Following a vote of no confidence Monday by the House Republican caucus, Gov. Bill Lee says he will call the legislature back for a special session if Speaker Glen Casada does not resign.

"Today House Republicans sent a clear message, and I'm prepared to call a special session if the Speaker doesn't resign," Lee said in a statement Monday night.

The House Republican Caucus held a meeting on Monday where members voted 45-24 that they no longer had confidence in Casada's leadership.

Lee's remarks were his strongest to date on the controversy surrounding Casada, who is in the middle of a scandal involving misogynistic texts traded with his former chief of staff Cade Cothren.

While House Majority Leader William Lamberth earlier in the evening had called on Casada to resign and for the Republican governor to call a special session, soon after Lee's announcement, the rest of the House Republican leadership announced they, too, wanted Casada gone.

Lamberth, R-Portland and Caucus Chairman Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, had throughout the last two weeks withheld giving any strong opinion on what they believed should happen to Casada.

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