After serving 15 years in the state legislature, House Speaker Pro Tem Doug Smith Monday announced that he will not seek re-election, saying that he wants to spend more time with his family.

He is currently chairman of the local Legislative Delegation and previously served as chairman of the House Rules Committee (1995-2000) and as vice chairman of the House Judiciary Committee (1994-1998). [...]

When Smith entered the House in 1993, Democrats controlled the Legislature. Former Gov. Jim Hodges, a Democrat, said Smith played a key role in the Republicans’ rise to power in 1994.

‘Doug was one of a core group of Republican leaders who was instrumental in their takeover and in ushering them through that period,’ Hodges said Monday evening while awaiting a flight at the Houston airport.

Hodges said he first met Smith in law school. He said even though they often found themselves on the opposite end of political issues, they remained friends.

‘We had our share of battles over the years,’ Hodges said. ‘He was a tough opponent and a great ally. I always felt good when he was on my side.’

U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins, a former House speaker, said Smith was in the middle of some crucial floor fights. [ROBERT W. DALTON - Spartanburg Herald-Journal]

There’s no doubt that news of the departure of the second-highest ranking member of the South Carolina House is sure to have a select few Republicans salivating.  But only a few, because in order to get the job, someone’s going to have to go through a gauntlet of sleaze attacks and viscous inter-party warfare.