Republicans praise ousted Caucus chair

RightMissouri.com, a Republican blog, has praised the former chair and vice-chair of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus for their support of a bill that would trade tax credits for the funding private education.

“Huge kudos go out to State Reps. Ted ‘Kick Their Butts’ Hoskins and Rodney Hubbard — both St. Louis Dems and the only Dems in Missouri with an ounce of principle and conviction,” said the blog.

PUB DEF was the first to report yesterday that the Black Caucus, by a vote of 11-3, voted Hoskins out of its chairmanship. Hoskins, who sources say chose not to attend the meeting where the vote took place, was replaced by State Rep. John Bowman. Hubbard resigned his vice-chairmanship before a vote could be taken to remove him. He was replaced by State Rep. Connie Johnson.

The blog also quotes an article in today’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Hoskins commented only briefly Thursday, saying that he has decided to leave the caucus entirely. ‘They don’t do nothing, so I won’t be missing anything,’ he said.”

Several members of the Black Caucus have told PUB DEF that the change in leadership is the best thing that could have happened for the group. They said that Hoskins’ leadership style and questionable fundraising tactics had tarnished the group’s reputation and steered them in a direction away from their primary mission.