OKLAHOMA CITY — A harbinger of what awaits newly elected U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy occurred 32 years ago in the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
McCarthy (R-California) finally was elected Speaker early Saturday morning on the 15th ballot after a four-day intramural brawl during which he made multiple concessions to a group of hard-line members of the Republican Caucus to secure their votes.
In Oklahoma, Jim Barker (D-Muskogee) was in his then-historic fourth term as Speaker of the 101-member House of Representatives when he was ousted in a ‘palace coup’ led by a group of dissident legislators dubbed “The T-Bar 12”.
The legislators were all first-term ‘freshmen’ House Democrats who began meeting furtively at the T-Bar, a watering hole on N. Western Ave. in Oklahoma City.
Their members included Representatives Cal Hobson (Lexington), Sid Hudson (Lawton), Don Ross (Tulsa), Carolyn Thompson (Norman), Vickie White (Norman), Russ Roach (Sand Springs), Larry Gish (Stillwater), Don McCorkell Jr. (Tulsa), Dwayne Steidley (Claremore), Linda Larason (OKC), John D. Lassiter (Moore), and Jeff Hamilton (Midwest City), plus two latecomers, Gary Maxey (Enid) and Jessie Pilgrim (Cushing).
They, and several other House members, Democrats and Republicans alike, had complained repeatedly about all-night House sessions, Barker’s leadership team and their negotiations with the Senate, and the heavy-handed tactics of Barker and Majority Leader Guy Davis (D-Calera).
The conspirators prepared a detailed script for steps they would follow to achieve their goal, and during a late-night huddle just hours before the overthrow they met at Larason’s house for a final review of their plan.
On May 17, 1989, Steidley rose from his desk in the House chamber and made a motion to vacate the Speaker’s chair. Speaker Pro Tempore Jim Glover (D-Elgin) promptly made a motion to adjourn, but his motion failed.
Barker was alerted to what was occurring, arrived in the House chamber from the Speaker’s office directly across the hall on the fourth floor of the State Capitol, and sat in the presiding officer’s chair. But Pilgrim, citing Robert’s Rules of Order, a manual of parliamentary procedure, pointed out that Barker could not preside over a proceeding that called for his removal, so Glover occupied the Speaker’s chair in the House chamber that day.
Lengthy debate ensued, and Davis offered to resign if Barker were allowed to continue as Speaker. But the concession was too little, too late. Barker was removed as Speaker on a 72-25 vote; every Republican and at least 41 Democrats voted for the ouster.
The House elected Steve Lewis (D-Shawnee) as the new Speaker. He was thought to be the one member who could appeal to rural and urban Democrats, liberal and conservative Democrats.
Lewis hired me in February 1990 to be the House Media Division director. As such, one of my roles was to write and distribute press releases for the Speaker.
In mid-April during the 1990 legislative session, Speaker Lewis summoned me to his office for a meeting. Afterward, while I was there, Lewis had a conversation with Glen D. Johnson (D-Okemah), one of his key lieutenants, and Lewis told Johnson, “We need to set up a meeting with the freshmen Democrats. They’re getting restless again.”
I predict that Kevin McCarthy will have several such meetings over the next two years with a few of the Republican rebels who repeatedly opposed his election as Speaker.
(Steve Lewis served less than a full term as Speaker of the House. He ran for Governor in 1990 but lost in the Democratic primary to the eventual winner, David Walters. Lewis now lives in Tulsa, where he maintains a law practice and represents clients as a lobbyist at the State Capitol in Oklahoma City.)
(Barker died in 2005, Davis in 1994, Gish in 1991, Glover and Larason in 2020.)