BOSTON — House Minority Leader Bradley Jones said he is focused on the next two years, and has not thought about whether this will be his last leading the small GOP caucus.
Reelected this month as minority leader for the seventh time, Jones said he has no intention to self-impose a limit on his tenure in the top spot, unlike his Democratic counterpart and his predecessor. Speaker Robert DeLeo is restricted to four consecutive two-year terms as speaker of the House, requiring him to step aside in 2016. Senate President Therese Murray also faces a four-term limit on her presidency.
Jones, a North Reading Republican, was first elected minority leader in 2002, after former Minority Leader Fran Marini announced in January 2002 he would not seek a fifth term. The Hanson Republican, who would later be appointed as a judge, said he was leaving the House because he was committed to the concept of term limits.
Jones said does not think limits are necessary for minority leader, but supports the idea for House speaker because, he said, the two roles hold different power.
“I don’t think they are equivalent positions,” Jones told the News Service Thursday. “The position of minority leader is not elected by the institution; it is elected by my caucus. The speakership is the only position elected by the membership of the entire institution.”
“I think the power of the speaker is exponentially greater than any power I have, and I think that puts it in a category far different,” he added.
On Jan. 2, DeLeo was re-elected speaker along party lines with 128 votes of support, including all 15 freshman House Democrats, to 29 votes cast by House Republicans for Jones. Two seats are currently open. The GOP lost a net four seats in the November election, and has one new member in its caucus — Rep. Leonard Mirra, of West Newbury.
DeLeo, who followed former Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, included the speaker’s term limit in a set of rules passed by the House after he was elected speaker in 2009. Jones said he does not remember if he voted in favor of the rules that year, but “generally” he votes against House rules. But, he added, when DeLeo told him his plan to do include a Speaker’s term limit, he said he was “fine” with it.
“Generally speaking, I would say eight years as speaker is probably more daunting and pressure cooked than eight years as minority leader,” Jones said.
On Thursday, the Republican caucus reelected its leadership team, selecting the same group of lawmakers who led the GOP agenda for the past four years. Rep. George Peterson (R-Grafton) was picked to be assistant minority leader, while Rep. Bradford Hill (R-Ipswich), Elizabeth Poirier (R-North Attleboro), and Rep. Viriato deMacedo round out the group.
