Rep. Bruce Bannister (R-Greenville) was voted the new House Majority Leader, replacing Kenny Bingham (R-Lexington). Bannister's district stretches across a large portion of Greenville County, starting in Mauldin and heading west to Welcome. See the district map here.
Gary Simrill (R-York) is the Assistant Majority Leader.
Rep. Bobby Harrell (R-114) was re-elected as the Speaker today in the Organizational Session of the 120th General Assembly of the House of Representatives.
Harrell has been dogged by ethics charges since it was revealed in the fall that he reimbursed himself over $300,000 in the Fall. No members of the House filed ethics complaints against Harrell today.
It will be Harrell's fifth term as House Speaker. He did not face opposition and the vote was by acclimation.
He'll once again be joined by Jay Lucas as Speaker Pro Tem, who was also voted in by acclimation.
Keep up with all of Patch's coverage of South Carolina politics by following us on Facebook HERE and Twitter HERE.