Jones on Black
If you are a frequent reader here, you may remember that Rep. Earl Jones of Greensboro has been a vocal supporter of Speaker Black. From a recent story :
"Speaker Black should not be punished because of people’s opinions or speculation or conjecture over his behavior," said Rep. Earl Jones, a Greensboro Democrat who has been one of Black’s staunchest supporters.When asked what he told hopefuls for speaker that called him looking for support, Jones said, "I told them the same thing I’m telling you — we have a speaker."
So now that Black is out of the running for next session, who will Jones support? I caught up with him in the legislative office building today and his first answer was that he didn’t know.
“Now that he (Black) is out, I’m going to weigh all my options. I’m not locked into any of the candidates one way or the other,” he said.
I asked him if having Speaker Black step aside in some way allowed the Democrats to get on with other business. Jones brushed that notion aside.
“I’ve been getting on with other business anyway,” Jones said. “I was comfortable going into the next session with Speaker Black.”