ANDERSON - The former state legislator whose 1994 party switch helped the Republicans take over the South Carolina House for the first time since Reconstruction died Thursday.

Rep. Cebron Daniel "C.D." Chamblee, 78, had battled cancer for a year and died at the farm where he was born and lived.

Chamblee served 20 years in the South Carolina House beginning in 1976.

When he left the House in 1996, Chamblee continued to operate his family farm before retiring about five years ago. Cary Chamblee said his father's health began to decline about a year ago when he was diagnosed with lymphoma.

"He was a nice guy, very well thought of," said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Cooper, a Piedmont Republican who served with Chamblee for six years.