[cross-posted at DLCC.org]
Republican State Rep. Denny Hoskins of Missouri has had a bad few months. He ran for office touting his experience as a Certified Public Accountant, but once he got to the legislature, it turned out that he had more than 20 grand in late, unpaid taxes. The stress has clearly gotten to Denny, as he’s now getting into fights on the House Floor:
[Democratic Rep. Michael] Frame on Friday said Hoskins "came charging over to the Democrats' side of the House, saying, 'You got a problem? Let's solve it right now.'"
Rep. Trent Skaggs, D-Kansas City, interrupted Frame's story, saying Hoskins used "curse words" and he stepped between to keep Hoskins away from Frame.
Rep. John Burnett, D-Kansas City, said he joined Skaggs in getting between Hoskins and Frame.
"(Hoskins) physically challenged Representative Frame, so I jumped up," Burnett said, adding, "Tempers get short at the end of the session. I've been here eight years. I've seen three or four little dustups like that."
All that, apparently, was because Rep. Frame had called one of Hoskins’ bills "the best resolution in the universe," a sort of veiled reference to an ethics bill debated earlier. But whatever the meaning, it’s still unclear why Hoskins blew his fuse in response.
Regardless, if residents of the Warrensburg-based 121st Missouri House district want a representative who isn’t a complete embarrassment, they have an alternative in Courtney Cole, who’s running a very strong race as Hoskins’ Democratic challenger.
So strong, in fact, that the non-partisan Missouri Political News ranks this race as one of the Democrat’s best pickup opportunities in the State House. We expect it to be hard-fought all the way to November.