New House speaker vows to manage expectations

JAMESTOWN, Ky. (AP) – Kentucky’s first Republican House speaker in nearly 100 years says his biggest job will be managing the expectations of the state’s restless GOP leaders – starting with the governor.

Jeff Hoover says the state’s first Republican-controlled government will act swiftly to pass a right-to-work bill and anti-abortion legislation, but indicated he would move carefully on other topics including tax reform and a ban on transgender bathroom use as he seeks to manage an unpredictable caucus through an unprecedented transition.

Hoover is a criminal defense attorney who owns a country music radio station. First elected to the House in 1996, he has transformed a small GOP caucus into a 64-seat super majority in what was the last remaining legislative chamber in the South still controlled by Democrats.