Republicans in the State House and Senate selected their leadership for the upcoming 147th General Assembly session Wednesday.
The 14 member House Republican Caucus voted State Rep. Danny Short (R-Seaford) the House Minority Leader.
“Our members collectively represent the interests of more than 300,000 Delawareans and we are going to make sure their voices are heard in Dover,” said Short in a statement.
Short, who was first elected in 2006, previously served as House Minority Whip in the 145th General Assembly.
House Republicans also tapped State Rep. Deborah Hudson (R-Fairthorne) to serve as House Minority Whip. Hudson – with 18 years in the House – is currency the longest tenure House Republican.
Short and Hudson replace Greg Lavelle and Gerald Hocker in the House Republican leadership positions. Lavelle and Hocker both won seats in the State Senate in November.
In the State Senate, the eight member Republican Caucus voted to keep Sen. Gary Simpson (R-Milford) as the Senate Minority Leader. Simpson has held the post for the last four years.
“I think the greatest challenge we’ll face this year is balancing the budget. We’ve got some taxes that are due to sunset this year. “We’ve got to make sure those taxes are not extended in order to put more money in the hands of Delaware’s people,” said Sen. Simpson in a statement.
Senate Republicans also selected former House Minority Leader Lavelle (R-Sharpley) to serve as Senate Minority whip.
The new State Senate will convene in special session next week to consider judicial nominations from Gov. Jack Markell (D). Democrats hold a 13-8 majority in that body this session.
The House begins its new session January 8th. Democrats hold a 27-14 majority there.