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Rep. Charles Stenholm, D-Texas, a top member of the...

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Charles Stenholm, D-Texas, a top member of the 'boll weevil' bloc, is virtually certain to run for House speaker, challenging veteran incumbent Thomas O'Neill, Stenholm's office said Friday.

'He is 99 percent sure he is going to be challenging,' a spokesman in Stenholm's office said.

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Stenholm, just elected for his fourth term, is a conservative Democrat who was a leading member of the conservative boll weevil bloc that provided the margin of victory for President Reagan's budget and tax cuts during the 1981-82 session.

His chances of dumping O'Neill, entrenched as speaker, are considered slight because the boll weevils represent only a small fraction of the House Democratic membership.

The election will be held Dec. 4.

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