Assemblyman Ty Cobb, R-Reno, cast the only no vote Monday to elect Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, as Assembly speaker. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

CARSON CITY -- A "nay" echoed through the chamber, and a gasp went up around the room.

A freshman assemblyman, Ty Cobb, R-Reno, had voted against the election of Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, as speaker, defying the rest of his caucus and legislative tradition.

Cobb's surprise lone vote as the Legislature opened Monday set political tongues wagging, largely in disapproval. Cobb said in an interview that he hadn't meant to shock or offend.

"This is not some publicity stunt," he said. "In the House of Representatives, the members to a roll call vote. The Republicans put up their candidate, the Democrats put up their candidate, each party votes and whoever has more votes wins."

Cobb said he thought Assembly Republicans should have done the same and nominated a Republican speaker. As a Republican, he said, he didn't feel right voting for a Democrat for the position.

That may be the way things work in Congress, but Nevada is not Washington, D.C., Buckley said in an interview.

"I think it's disappointing," she said of Cobb's move. "Nevada has had a tradition of acting in a bipartisan manner forever. We're trying to do something unlike they do in D.C. (Senate Minority Leader Dina) Titus every session votes for (Senate Majority Leader Bill) Raggio."

Legislators and legislative watchers with institutional memories going back 30 years couldn't remember a single nay vote against a speaker.

Leadership members are first chosen by their parties, as Buckley was last year, then ratified by votes on the floor of the Assembly and Senate.

Buckley's nomination was cause for more laudatory remarks than usual because it marked the first time a woman was made Assembly speaker in the body's 142-year history.

"I can't remember anything like this in my 14 years" in the Assembly, said former Assemblyman Richard Perkins, the Democratic Speaker who stepped down after the last session. "I was terribly disappointed in it. It was disrespectful to the institution and to Barbara individually."

Perkins said Cobb could expect to pay for his disrespectful move.

"Generally, freshmen keep their mouths shut and their ears open and learn the process," he said. "Somebody with the class of a Bill Raggio or a (Assembly Minority Leader) Garn Mabey would never do something like this. If this is going to be his (Cobb's) approach, it's going to get him nowhere. His own party's going to marginalize him, and his district is going to suffer as a result."

Buckley said she wouldn't take personal revenge on Cobb but allowed that his action didn't augur well for the freshman's chances.

"Certainly, people who lack a sense of judgment sometimes run into trouble with legislation because they don't reach out to people," she said. "You can't do anything unless you get a majority. It doesn't matter if you have the best ideas."

Buckley said she would keep an open mind. "It also may be a freshman mistake," she said. "We'll have to wait and see."

Mabey, Cobb's caucus leader, also condemned the freshman. Mabey had given a speech on the floor seconding Buckley's nomination.

"I thought it was inappropriate," he said. "As a body, we're all trying to work together to accomplish what's best for the state. She's the speaker and she deserves to be the speaker."

Cobb occupies the seat formerly held by Republican Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, known for her far right positions and disinclination to compromise.

Being a troublemaker, Cobb said, "is not my intention, but the reason people elected me is that I'm going to put my ideas forward."

Cobb wasn't totally out on a limb Monday. Conservative commentator and activist Chuck Muth cheered Cobb in his e-newsletter.

"FINALLY, it appears there's at least ONE Republican in the Assembly with not only the courage of his convictions, but a little backbone as well," Muth wrote. "Let's hope more join him before the session ends."