Bob Booker and his vote for a Republican

Former State Representative Bob Booker of Knoxville says he doesn't pay too much attention these days to the happenings in Nashville or state government.
But 40 years ago, he was very much a part of the scene.
As one of the few Democrats in East Tennessee, Booker found himself in a unique position to make history.
At stake was the Speaker's post. Bill Jenkins - an upper East Tennessee Republican (who would later become Congressman) - was vying for the position against Democrat Pat Lynch of Winchester. Both parties had 49 members.
The lone Independent was J.P. Kimbrell of West Point. He would wind up voting for Jenkins, but prior to the vote, he was very much a question mark.
So the Republicans needed an insurance vote.
They found it in Booker, who says he had grown unhappy with his own party because he felt he was being taken for granted.
And besides, he says, he had a number of Republican friends in the Knox County delegation. He would often ride to Nashville for sessions with two of them, Jack Comer and Archie Weaver.
And he considered Bill Jenkins a "good friend."
When the vote for Speaker came, it was done alphabetically. Booker was one of the early votes and when he uttered, "Bill Jenkins," as his choice, he says "people were aghast!"
His vote and the other Republican votes made a majority - allowing Jenkins to become the first Republican Speaker of the House in Tennessee since reconstruction.
I asked Booker if he ever regretted his decision?
"Lord no," he said. "I was re-elected after that vote with flying colors. No, I never regretted my decision."
Booker served three terms in the State House, but he says he eventually grew tired of the atmosphere in Nashville and joined former Knoxville Kyle Testerman's administration in 1972.
"These days I rarely pay attention to the folks in Nashville," says Booker. But certainly on that day back in 1969, Nashville paid alot of attention to Bob Booker.