I will withhold judgement until he's had a chance to prove himself as an effective speaker but as a member of the House majority for the last 8 years, I've considered Edgmon as part of the problem. 

As a rural resident the last thing I want to see is a decimation of rural Alaska. However, the reality is that the urban areas are somewhat cushioned by their tax bases and rural Alaska isn't. Rural Alaska will be much more heavily impacted by the inevitable cuts in state spending...there's just no way around it.

In the end I don't want a "rural" Speaker or and "urban" one. I just want a Speaker.