Suddenly, swiftly, without warning, the veteran Northeast Philly lawmaker is positioned to impact reforms in Harrisburg, kids with disabilities and the relationship between his city and his state.
Thanks to a strange cascade of events, O’Brien, a 30-year Republican incumbent first elected to the House at age 23, now runs it.
Even though the House is Democratic. And his election came outta nowhere.
In an unprecedented political turn of the screw, he became House speaker yesterday by a 105-97 vote, ousting the wily John Perzel, a fellow Northeast Republican with whom he’s had an arm’s-length relationship for years.
He ascends to a seat of real power, the oldest elective office in the state, a post once held by Benjamin Franklin.
He won it on the strength of Democratic votes, nominated by longtime Democratic leader Bill DeWeese, who fell on his sword rather than try to outduel Perzel. Instead, DeWeese outsmarted him.
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