For the first time since 1877, Republicanswill be in control of the Governor’s Office plus the MississippiSenate and House when new terms begin in January.

    With Haley Barbour as governor and a majority in the Senate, theGOP has held two out of the three this term. But control of theHouse of Representatives remained an elusive goal for Republicansas it remained under the Democratic leadership of Speaker BillyMcCoy.

    Influenced in part by McCoy’s decision to shut Republicans out ofall House committee chairmanships, the state legislative tone overthe last four years has been decidedly partisan and at timesrancorous.

    The divided government structure made agreement on many issues -from yearly budgets to redistricting – difficult if not impossible.Some, however, could see the split as a good thing, with bothparties having the opportunity to have their views and ideasrepresented in the final legislative product – the result ofnecessary compromise.

    Soon, though, Republicans will be fully in charge of setting theagenda for state legislative activities. That means the credit – orblame – for successes and failures will rest solely on theirshoulders.

    GOP leaders, particularly in the House, are hinting at what theirlegislative priorities will be and how they will govern.

    Among intended priorities are a redistricting plan favorable toRepublicans, curtailing Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood’sability to hire and pay outside legal counsel for state-relatedlitigation, and a law requiring the reporting of suspected childabuse cases.

    The redistricting item is understandable and the child abusereporting law should have few objectors. However, given thedifficult economic times facing the state and the challenges ofcrafting a budget, it would seem that targeting Hood – the loneDemocrat in statewide office – could be a little further down theto-do list.

    To his credit, Rep. Philip Gunn, the likely next speaker of theHouse, has not ruled out appointing some Democrats to committeechairmanships and has expressed a desire for them to have “a seatat the table” regarding money and other important discussions.McCoy’s handling of the committee issues, particularly after such aclose race that saw him re-elected as speaker four years ago, wasill-advised and ruffled many a Republican feather.

    For an idea of how not to operate while in total control, stateRepublicans need only look to the federal government in recenttimes.

    While holding the presidency and both houses of Congress after the2008 elections, Democrats rarely considered the Republicanviewpoint when ramming through varied pieces of liberallegislation, most notably health care reform. 

    In a voter backlash, the Republicans in 2010 regained control ofthe U.S. House of Representatives. Levels of gridlock, though,remain high, and leaders’ inability to get along raises thepossibility of more voter-led changes next year on the nationallevel.

    Treating the opposition fairly and carefully considering allaspects of pending litigation will take Republicans far underMississippi’s new political reality that starts in January.

    How long the new power dynamic will last will be fully up to theRepublicans.

    Handle things right and stay in a power a while. Don’t and riskbeing gone after one term.