COLUMBIA - Pee Dee legislators warmly welcomed new S.C. House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, who was elected to the post Thursday.

Harrell received widespread support from all lawmakers as he replaces Rep. David Wilkins, R-Greenville, who resigned after he was appointed by President Bush as the United States’ ambassador to Canada.

“I’m committed to Bobby Harrell,” said Rep. Denny Neilson, D-Darlington, before Harrell was chosen to lead the House.

“He has been on the House, Ways and Means Committee for eight years,” she said. “And through that, I think he has shown leadership and very strong organizational skills. And he is very easy to work with.”

Harrell, as Ways and Means chairman, was the House’s counterpart to Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

“I really like the fact that Bobby Harrell has been elected speaker,” Leatherman said. “It allows me to have more input into the workings of the House.”

Leatherman said he and Harrell worked together as chairmen of their respective committees for five years.

“He knows me, and I know him. We have a wonderful working relationship,” Leatherman said.

Rep. Jim McGee, R-Florence, who was first elected to the House in 1996, said Wilkins was the only speaker he’d served with. But McGee said he has backed Harrell since speculation began that Wilkins would step down.

“He is very impressive,” McGee said of Harrell. “And as speaker, he is president of the body. He is like the quarterback of a football team.”

McGee’s desk mate in the House, Rep. Marty Coates, R-Florence, had only served in the House with Wilkins as speaker, too. But Coates said he is pleased with Harrell’s election.

“Bobby has been a true ally,” Coates said, adding that he backed Harrell for the speaker’s post from the beginning of the contest.

Rep. Jackie Hayes, D-Hamer, said he also supports Harrell. Hayes said he looks forward to the opportunities and the new ideas a new speaker brings to the House.

“He has the leadership skills, and he’s intelligent,” Hayes said. “He knows how government works.”

Harrell’s election moves the speaker’s gavel from the hand of an Upstate House member to the hand of a Lowcountry representative. The only Pee Dee lawmaker ever mentioned as a possible candidate to replace Wilkins is Rep. Doug Jennings, D-Bennettsville. But with the makeup of the House in favor of Republicans, Jennings’ candidacy did not catch on.

Other candidates who were opposing Harrell for the job dropped out of the race before Thursday’s vote. Harrell thanked all of his opposition as he accepted his position.

McGee said he thinks that the election of a new speaker will allow for a united House.

“If there was any acrimony, I hope everybody will all come back together,” he said.

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