Arizona Capital Times has a lengthy article detailing the contest for Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives. Kirk Adams of District 19 in Mesa has long been interested in being Speaker. He has a pretty conservative record and is running for the speakership on a platform making the house a more effective branch of government. The Capital Times outlines some of his changes here:

To reverse the course that has seen Democratic budgets two years in a row, he is proposing placing policy above politics, decentralizing power from the speaker’s office and utilizing the resources within the caucus. Relying on the status quo, he said, won’t make the Republican-controlled House a co-equal branch of government.

Current Speaker, Jim Weiers, is from District 10 in NW Phoenix. His platform is simple. He has the experience. Here is what he told the Capital Times:

That experience will be even more paramount, Weiers said, given that legislators are staring into the face of a third consecutive budget deficit, and possibly another one in the following year. He touted his experience in addressing shortfalls, dating back to his first stint as speaker when lawmakers faced budget crunch after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Steve Yarbrough of Chandler/Queen Creek District 21 is running on a similar sounding platform as Adams. According to house rules the two top vote getters will face off against each other so it is not possible for Weiers to know off the two competitors in a single ballot where the reformers split the vote.

If Weiers loses his bid for another term, he will be denied a truly conservative Republican caucus (if the Republicans succeed in holding most of their seats and keeping the majority.) Given the budgets of the last few years and the influx of new candidates in the house, the Republicans may vote for something different.