From Macon.com:

A north Georgia legislator’s plan to wrest the gavel away from Georgia Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson doesn’t stand much of a chance, House Majority Leader Jerry Keen told Macon Rotary Club members Monday.

Keen, who confirmed he’s considering running for governor in 2010, said Richardson has done “an outstanding job” as speaker, despite the public spats that have grabbed headlines since Republicans took over the House four years ago.

“I will vote for Glenn Richardson again as speaker, and I’ll tell you why,” Keen, R-St. Simons, told the lunchtime crowd. “Public relations notwithstanding, he’s done an outstanding job. … Most, if not all, of the major legislation we’ve passed up there in the last four years since he’s been speaker would not have been possible (without him).”

The Speaker of the House is elected by House members. But, given the Republican Party’s majority in the House, the decision is largely made by the Republican caucus. State Rep. David Ralston, a Blue Ridge Republican, said last week that he plans to challenge Richardson for the speaker’s job, and a handful of other House members have lined up behind him publicly.

The challenge came “out of the blue,” and Keen,one of the top Republicans in the state, said he hadn’t spoken to Ralston as of early Monday afternoon.

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