Meck's Thom Tillis To Be House Speaker

Republican lawmakers over the weekend chose Rep. Thom Tillis of Cornelius to be North Carolina's next House Speaker. Republicans chose Tillis over Rep. Paul Stam of Apex, fellow Mecklenburg Republican Ric Killian and Mitch Gillespie of McDowell County. Tillis says the competition was civil, and the caucus will unite behind him. "There are a lot of people who are so accustomed to our caucus kind of having infighting and having some dysfunction that it is hard for them to believe how we'll we are operating," Tillis told North Carolina Public Radio. "I want to remove any doubt that the House majority caucus - Republican caucus - is going to speak with one voice. We're gonna do a great job.' Tillis was elected to his third term this month. He's also a former Cornelius city commissioner. His election to the speakership won't be official until the full House votes in January. The GOP will have a 68-52 advantage over Democrats.