State House speaker Todd Hiett boots Cargill as floor leader, names Sullivan to post

Monday, March 20th 2006, 2:47 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Republican House Speaker Todd Hiett says Representative Lance Cargill is stepping down from the powerful position of majority floor leader and is being replaced by a freshman lawmaker.

Hiett says the new floor leader is Representative Dan Sullivan and that he will have less authority over the House.

Hiett also says the House's daily agenda will now be set by a three-member committee consisting of Representatives Mark Liotta, Jeff Hickman and Dale DeWitt.

Cargill's decision to resign was apparently decided over the weekend among Republican House leaders. The action follows a highly contentious week in which Republicans argued among themselves over a variety of issues and the House worked from early in the morning until almost midnight on several days.

Cargill is one of at least three candidates to replace Hiett as speaker next year. Hiett is term-limited and is running for lieutenant governor.

The other candidates include Speaker Pro Tem Susan Winchester and Representative Chris Benge.

Neither Hiett nor Cargill were immediately available for comment and House Democrats had no immediate reaction the changes.