Rep. Thom Tillis, District 98, was elected Wednesday, Jan. 25, the first Republican Speaker of the House in more than a century.

Tillis, of Cornelius, has said his first priority as speaker is to reign in spending and repair a $3.7 billion budget shortfall for the 2011-12 budget year, which begins July 1.

Tillis was elected in November to a third term in the state House of Representatives and is a former Cornelius commissioner.