Outspoken Republican Pam Roach has been elected president pro tem of the Washington State Senate.
She'll preside over the Senate when the lieutenant governor isn't there.
The election of Republican Pam Roach comes as a surprise, and she had a lot of help from Democrats.
The leadership position that seems unlikely just a few years ago -- when fellow Republicans expelled her from caucus meetings accusing her of erupting in anger.
In fact, Republicans had planned to re-elect Democrat Tim Sheldon to the post. Sheldon had helped them form a majority two years ago to wrest control of the Senate from Democrats.
In an interview, Roach emphasized her fellow Republicans weren’t opposing her, “They voted for someone else, they person they voted for didn’t get enough votes."
Reminded that Republicans voted for a Democrat, she just smiled, raised her eyebrows and shrugged her shoulders.
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