Brinkley to step aside as GOP Senate leader

Senate Minority Leader David Brinkley (R-New Market)State Senate Minority Leader David R. Brinkley (R-New Market) has announced he will step down from his leadership post, possibly as soon as next month, when Senate Republicans are set to re-organize.

"When it comes time for election, I'll let someone else take it over," Brinkley told the Baltimore Sun. "I've got plenty on my plate."

Brinkley's future as a leader in Annapolis was called into question in June, when a domestic disturbance at his home and his chief of staff's temporary leave caused uneasines in a GOP caucus that prides itself on family values.

Senate Republicans might hold a re-organizing meeting as early as September. Minority Whip Allan Kittleman (R-West Friendship) and Nancy Jacobs (R-Edgewood/Abingdon) are considered top contenders for the job.

Before Brinkley was elected to the state Senate from District 4 in 2002, he served eight years in the House of Delegates.