After gaining support from five other leading GOP speaker candidates, State Representative Phillip DeVillier is on his way to take the position as the next speaker of the Louisiana House. DeVillier will lead the House effort pushing many issues favored by conservative governor-elect Jeff Landry to the forefront as he takes office in January of next year.

After the eight-year term of outgoing Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards, Landry and his team - including DeVillier - will work to move the state further right in regards to politics and lawmaking. All candidates in the race for this position have expressed their support for DeVillier. Rep. Jack McFarland stated, “This race has been friendly since the beginning, and I applaud all of the candidates on running such a clean race on merits. I look forward to working with Rep. DeVillier in making his leadership successful.”

DeVillier will end his third and final term as a state representative in January. In an interview, he spoke about his priorities which focus on fighting crime, improving the states insurance marketplace, modifying aspects of the tax code to attract businesses and increasing access to controversial “education savings accounts”. He expressed, however, that his main goal would be “trying to open up a better communication among House members.”

It is said that DeVillier is set to be the first House Speaker in the last 12 years to be elected without significant opposition. He is known by many for having very conservative views and a friendly personality. Landry began working immediately after his October election victory to unite lawmakers around a single speaker. The governorelect strategized closely with the six representatives whom he preferred to hold the position. However, insiders in Landrys’ administration stated that he ultimately let the House Republicans decide who would take the spot, forgoing the tradition of past governors choosing the legislative leader.

The candidates Landry worked with included Reps. Jack McFarland, Daryl Deshotel, Julie Emerson, Tony Bacala, and Brett Geymann. Members of the Republican Party are hoping that the behind-the-scenes strategizing and planning done by the incoming-governor and his team will help to prevent political infighting which was rampant in past years.

The official vote for the position is set to happen in a closed-door meeting held on December 4th. However, with DeVillier showing a clear lead in votes as well as having the support of the other contenders, the vote is more or less a formality.