An evening last March in the state Senate was definitely a milestone for Mark Schoesler, and possibly a foreshadowing.
With the help of a few defecting Democrats and a parliamentary maneuver, Schoesler and fellow Republicans wrested control from majority Democrats and passed an alternative, more conservative budget plan.
The Ritzville wheat farmer, first elected to the Legislature in 1992, had spent eight years in the Senate. Five of those were as Republican floor leader, essentially the traffic cop directing his party’s response to legislation in a chamber controlled by Democrats. Suddenly, he was in charge.
“Everything had to be perfectly planned. We had to argue every bill, every motion, every order,” Schoesler recalled last week.
Next month, when a new legislative session opens, 55-year-old Schoesler will be in the majority as Senate Republican leader. His 23 fellow Republicans are the largest bloc of votes in what’s being called an unprecedented coalition majority. Joining them are two of the conservative Democrats who defected during the budget vote earlier this year, giving the coalition the needed 25 votes to control the state Senate.
