Ellington to stay in race
by Greg Hilburn - News Star (excerpt)

A pre-legislative session feud between House Speaker Jim Tucker and northeastern Louisiana Rep. Noble Ellington appears to be ready to boil over in the form of a floor fight Monday as Ellington refuses to withdraw from his run at the No. 2 position in the House.

Ellington said two of his supporters for the speaker pro-tem position called with word from Tucker asking Ellington what the speaker would have to give him to withdraw from the race. "He wants to buy me off, and I'm not going to do," said Ellington, D-Winnsboro. "I owe it to the people who are supporting me to take it to a vote when the session begins (at noon Monday in Baton Rouge)." The position of speaker and speaker pro-tem rarely comes to a floor vote between candidates. It's generally decided before it comes to a public vote among members.

Tucker, who's supporting Lafayette Rep. Joel Robideaux, no party affiliation, hasn't returned calls from The News-Star. Gov. Bobby Jindal's staff told The News-Star that the governor was neutral on the issue and that he could work with either Ellington or Robideaux