Tanner will seek new leadership post if re-elected

If he’s re-elected, Rep. Ralph Tanner, R-Baldwin, said he will neither seek nor accept chairmanship of the House Education Committee, a position he’s held the past four years.

“I am interested in and willing to serve on the committee, but I’ll not serve as chairman,” Tanner said. “I’ll let someone else deal with it.”

Tanner said that he’s grown “weary” of “hitting my head against a stone wall” when dealing with the lobbies representing the state’s teachers and school boards.

Tanner said he would seek the chairmanship of the House Committee on Higher Education.

In the House, committee chairmen are appointed by the speaker.

Tanner was first appointed in 1998 by then-Speaker Robin Jennison; he was reappointed in 2000 by Rep. Kent Glasscock, R-Manhattan.

Glasscock did not seek re-election to the House. The majority party will elect a new speaker in January.