Democratic state senator Phillip P. Puckett, 67, of Tazewell, Virginia, was reportedly taking an approach to the public good that had all the subtlety of a terrorist bomb, albeit without the immediate body count. Puckett had been one of 40 state senators since 1998, having risen from being a teacher to a principal to a bank vice president for business development. Puckett was elected to represent Senate District 38 in rural, southwest Virginia, deep in Appalachia.
The Virginia Senate has been divided evenly for most of the year, 20 Democrats, 20 Republicans, with the Democratic lt. governor holding the tie-breaking vote. The Democratic governor wants to expand Medicaid, the Republican-controlled lower house had voted against it. By early February 2014 it was clear to some that Sen. Puckett could be the key to whether the Senate would support Medicaid expansion, and that his daughter's judgeship was being held hostage to his cooperation (even though the lower house had already voted for her).
This was Puckett's moment to become a profile in courage. He didn't come close.
According to the Post, Puckett would resign his Senate seat, giving Republicans control of the Senate and the power to block Medicaid expansion; Puckett's daughter would be confirmed as a judge; and Puckett would get a six-figure salaried job with a tobacco commission controlled by Republicans. On June 9, Puckett resigned, as predicted, but backed off from the tobacco commission job amidst an outcry that suggested the whole deal was bribery. Reportedly, the FBI is investigating.
Party loyalty was not one of Puckett's strong suits
A Democrat in a Republican-leaning district, Puckett's record seems unsurprisingly centrist. The party gave Puckett significant support in his most recent election in 2011, helping him win with 53% of the vote. And Democrats cut him plenty of slack on issues, since part of his campaign was a promise not to support President Obama in 2012.
As soon as Puckett had resigned, reports followed that the Senate had reached agreement on a two-year budget deal that excludes Medicaid expansion. A Medicaid-free budget was later signed into law.
Puckett apparently retreated into seclusion from the media, where he has been getting pilloried by some, but defended by few.
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