Capitol cannibalism: Revenge against GOP backfires, results in ‘shameful’ ouster of Dem lawmaker

Santana

In the state House, the promises of comity quickly turned to black comedy.
The fight began in November, one day after haughty declarations of a new era of bipartisan cooperation, when Republicans took revenge on a House Democrat who led efforts in the fall election campaign to oust GOP lawmakers. House Speaker Kevin Cotter veered from protocol by rejecting the Democrats’ choice for the minority party vice chair post on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

State Rep. Brandon Dillon, a Grand Rapids Democrat and a veteran of the committee, was the logical choice. But in his role as chair of the House Democratic campaign organization, he oversaw hardball campaign tactics against several GOP candidates, including Cotter.

The Democrats cried foul and refused to seat a replacement vice chair. Cotter stepped up and chose Democratic Rep. Harvey Santana, who represents southwest Detroit. Santana ruined the Dems’ protest by accepting the VC post. And the Democrats responded by ousting him from the Democratic caucus.

Marching in lock-step to a partisan tune is what Lansing’s all about these days.

The Republicans look petty but the Democrats look foolish by punishing one of their own. So, now Santana, known as a maverick Democrat, says he will work with the Republicans on the Appropriations Committee, helping to steer all spending matters in a direction that probably won’t please liberals.

This is one of those dust-ups that center on political inside baseball, the machinations that cause lawmakers to fret about committee assignments. But you have to wonder what kind of reaction this will bring in the Detroit Hispanic community that Santana represents.
And Santana’s cross-over could further weaken the already weak Democratic caucus in the House, where the GOP has an advantage of 63-47 in seats held. The lawmaker, according to the Detroit Free Press, chose biting sarcasm to respond to the Tuesday snub by his colleagues.

"You know what that means, I don't have to go to group therapy once a week," Santana joked after he was escorted out of a weekly caucus meeting and told not to come back. The Freep’s Kathy Gray reports that Santana added this: "… Ultimately, they've made me the single biggest and most powerful Democrat in this building because everything is going to come through me, according to the Republicans."

Already a thorn in House Democratic Leader Tim Greimel’s side, Santana had worked with the Republicans at times last session, including on a key plank of Gov. Snyder’s education reform plan, the controversial Education Achievement Authority. Greimel wouldn’t comment to the media about what happened behind closed doors on Tuesday but he said Democrats are supposed to be “team member(s).”

Funny how that works. When the Dems want help from the other side of the aisle, when they seek out a few GOP votes on a certain bill, they praise those who abide for their bipartisan cooperation. I’ve never heard Greimel say that Republican collaboration relies upon lawmakers who betray the GOP team.

Santana, known for his temperamental conduct on the House floor, got the last word: "I don't toe the party line and I do what I need to do on behalf of my constituents. And that's challenging in an era when they want to closely guard their votes. … They (the Democratic leaders) have just done so much damage to themselves right now. It's shameful."