For only the second time, majority Democrats in the state Legislature have formed a coalition with Republicans, this time to reorganize the 51-member House and oust Speaker Calvin Say.

Maui Rep. Joe Souki, a House member since 1982 and a former speaker, said Wednesday that he has 28 votes — seven Republicans and 21 Democrats — to assume the speaker’s post and select his slate of committee chairmen.

But Say said he is not giving up the gavel until the vote on leadership is taken when the Legislature convenes Jan. 16.

"It’s never over until you adopt the House concurrent resolution and House resolution on the leadership, so we’ll just wait and see what happens," Say said in a telephone interview, noting he was surprised at the outcome.

He said he was "optimistic" about being able to persuade some in the Demo­crats’ dissident faction to break ranks and side with him. "That’s politics," he said, adding that he respects the decision made by the other group to form the coalition.

Last week, Maui Sen. Shan Tsutsui retained the presidency of the Senate.

It was in 1980 when then-Senate President Richard "Dickie" Wong forged a coalition with Republican minority members, led by D.G. "Andy" Anderson, to retain the leadership of the Senate.

Among the members of that first-ever partnership were then-Sens. Neil Abercrombie, now governor; Ben Cayetano, a former governor who just lost a bid for the Honolulu mayorship; and Dante Carpenter, now state Democratic Party chairman.

That arrangement gave the Republicans control of some committees and more influence over legislation, but also gave control of major Senate committees to the liberal faction of the Democratic Party, which had close ties with unions.

Abercrombie said Wednesday that the organization of the House is "an internal matter."

"As a former legislator," Abercrombie said, "I can tell you, the last thing the Legislature needs is direction from the executive regarding organization. Whatever it is and however it turns out to be, you can count on us working with the Legislature."

Souki, 79, made the announcement Wednesday along with House Minority Leader Aaron Ling Johanson in Souki’s state Capitol office, just a couple of doors from Say’s office.

In return for the Republicans’ votes, Souki said House minority members will serve as vice chairmen on three committees — finance, economic development and energy, and environmental protection. The lineup of the other House committees, such as judiciary, has yet to be finalized, Johanson said.

Souki was able to create the coalition because Say wasn’t able to come up the 26 votes needed to retain the speaker’s position from the 44-member Democratic majority. Souki said he hasn’t talked with current Finance Chairman Marcus Oshiro, but acknowledged that the Wahiawa Democrat probably won’t be retained as head of the powerful House Finance Committee.

Souki said he has the written support of the seven Republicans to give him 28 votes — two more than what is necessary to take the leadership post. "It’s solid," Souki said of the GOP support.

Johanson said Republicans and Democrats will maintain separate caucuses.

"This is the first time in the House that Republicans will be able to contribute in a collective and collaborative way," Johanson said.

Democratic Party Chairman Carpenter, who had publicly asked House Democrats to settle their dispute without taking up with the GOP, said the party is also hopeful of Say ultimately receiving a majority of votes.

Carpenter said he spoke with Souki earlier this week. "I basically told Joe (Souki) that until it’s done, it’s not done," he said. "So they’re still open for conversation, discussion, and I’m hoping that all the Democrats are still open for that as well."

Souki would have to "reckon with the wrath of the Democratic Party" and some members who would be very angry over the coalition, Carpenter said. "A lot of Democrats will say, ‘Well, screw it. If these guys don’t care for party politics, then they should resign from party,’" he said.

Thirteen years ago, Say, 60, toppled Souki and went on to become the longest serving speaker of the House since statehood.

But dissatisfaction with Say’s leadership has split the majority.

Souki said he made the move "to avoid months of political posturing and delay that held up legislative work after the 2010 election."

The current stalemate has "the potential of going into opening day" of the Legislature as it did two years ago, he said. "There are many important issues that cannot wait until the middle of January," Souki added.

Echoing Souki, Johanson said, "There’s much work to do before the Legislature begins and we could delay no longer. We decided to put politics aside and came together to start working … "

Souki said there are major philosophical differences between himself and Say, adding that "I am pro-labor."

As for favorite legislation, Souki said he will continue to push for legalization of gambling, but wasn’t optimistic that it would pass both houses.

The Maui Democrat also said he will again push for a bill aimed at catching red-light violators and speeders with automated-camera systems that take pictures of violators and generate citations to send to registered owners of the vehicles.

Souki also said he expects lawmakers to make changes next year to the law that created the Public Land Development Corp, the development arm of the Department of Land and Natural Resources that has come under fire from environmentalists and Native Hawaiians and others.

Abercrombie said the PLDC’s purpose is to fund new schools, recreational facilities and operations by using public lands for public projects that weren’t carried out because of a lack of funding.

Abercrombie, who has supported the PLDC, said if legislators plan to deal with the issue, "it’s their legislative perogative and I’m fine with tha

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Star-Advertiser reporter B.J. Reyes contributed to this report.