Jockeying begins for Wilkins' position, seat

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"Now is not the time for good-byes," said Wilkins, who will end 10 years as speaker and 25 as a Greenville legislator if the U.S. Senate confirms him later this year.

Wilkins said he intended to keep his focus for the balance of the session and expected his committee chairmen to do the same, an apparent message to his would-be successors not to let politicking for his job become a distraction.

"Even with Senate confirmation going well, which I hope it does, I'll be presiding the last day of the session, and I may be here much, much longer than that. I just don't know how long this process lasts," Wilkins said in brief remarks when the House convened.

But the political dominos are already falling.

Three Republicans and one Democrat are running for speaker in the heavily Republican House and their efforts intensified as Wilkins' nomination drew near.

Republicans Jim Harrison of Columbia, Bobby Harrell of Charleston and Doug Smith of Spartanburg are in the race, as is Democrat Doug Jennings of Bennettsville. With Republicans holding a 74-50 majority, Jennings may have little chance, but the winning Republican may have to win over some Democrats.

Closer to home, Wilkins' District 24 will be open for the first time since he was elected in 1980 and scrambling — both open and discreet — for that seat is underway. A special election is likely later this year.

Democrat Michelle Shain, a Greenville City Council member, may be interested, but would "not say either way" until Wilkins is confirmed and resigns.

But Republican Warren Mowry said he's in.

Mowry, 48, an attorney and criminal justice instructor at Greenville Technical College and 1999-2001 county GOP chairman, said he would emphasize education and law enforcement in his campaign.

Attorney Tom Ervin, 53, a former Circuit Court judge and two-term Democratic House member in Anderson in the 1980s, said he is seriously considering running as a Republican.

The district is one that may only be nominally Republican despite Wilkins' 25-year dominance.

"It might (now) be a strong Republican seat, but could also be an Independent seat or a Democratic one, even in Greenville," said Doug Wavle, Greenville's member of the state GOP executive committee.

The confirmation process officially started with Bush's nomination.

Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will review the findings of background investigations and voluminous financial paperwork already filed by Wilkins.

Hearings by the committee's 10 Republicans and eight Democrats will conclude with a vote to confirm or reject the nomination. Confirmation would send it to the floor where Wilkins would need a majority of 51 votes among the 55 Republicans, 44 Democrats and 1 Independent.

Norm Kurz, spokesman for the committee's Democrats, said the panel's work won't begin until the White House sends the committee documents containing Wilkins' investigative, biographical and financial files to Capitol Hill, a process which could take a few days.

"The clock doesn't start ticking until after we receive it," Kurz said Wednesday. "Scheduling won't happen overnight. Neither will the hearings."

Assuming the nominee isn't controversial — meaning neither party finds anything objectionable in the nominee's history — the process from the announcement to the Senate's approval normally would take a few weeks, Kurz said.

Scheduling hearings is the responsibility of the majority party.

A spokesman for the Republican members of the committee wasn't available for comment.

South Carolina's two Republican senators, Lindsey Graham of Seneca and Jim DeMint of Greenville, began paving the way Thursday for Wilkins.

In remarks on the Senate floor, DeMint said the president couldn't have made a better choice based on Wilkins' passion for public service and "keen understanding" of the economic environment.

Graham said Bush "could not have chosen a more effective and talented ambassador to represent the United States' interests than David Wilkins. Canada's gain is our state's loss."

Some Canadian newspapers have appeared to chide Wilkins for his political ties to Bush as his state chairman in 2000 and 2004, and some on Thursday noted he has little background on their nation.

Wilkins has dismissed that, saying, "I've got a pretty thick skin" after 25 years in politics.

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Dan Hoover covers politics and can be reached at 298-4883.