Three days after he quit the party to become an independent in protest for not getting the committee chairmanship he wanted, State Sen. Tim Cullen announced at a press conference today that would return to the fold:
At a news conference Friday afternoon, Sen. Cullen was joined by Senate Majority Leader Mark Miller at the State Capitol. There, they announced that Cullen would chair two new committees — one on small business and venture capital, the other on mining.
Sen. Cullen will also serve as Vice-Chair of the Transportation Committed and Health Committee.
Sen. Miller says he takes a share of the responsibility for Sen. Cullen’s decision to leave the caucus earlier this week.
In other words Cullen played a smart game of political hardball – and won. His departure had threatened to cost the Democrats their control of the chamber since it shifted the makeup from a 17-15 Democratic majority to a 16-16 one if Cullen had voted with the Republicans. That would have deprived the Democrats of the one success they got out of last month’s recall election vote.
