It depends on who you talk to.

Reactions to Tuesday's upset win by state Rep. Kent Williams, R-Carter County, as speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives fell along party lines statewide and locally.

State Rep. David Hawk, R-5th, of Greeneville, said this morning in a telephone interview from Nashville that Williams "lied to all six million people across the state" by voting to reappoint Memphis legislator Lois DeBerry as speaker pro-tempore shortly after being elected.

Hawk said Williams technically did not break his pledge to vote for a Republican as speaker, "since he voted for himself," but he said Williams will not be trusted by Republican legislators for a long time.

Hawk said that participating in the vote was "surreal, like being in a bad dream."

Hawk said he has not gotten to know Williams well in the two years they have served together. "Obviously nobody did," Hawk said, adding, "It's hard to know someone who does what he did, but we'll be living with it for a couple of years."

The elected House speakership normally is a two-year post.

State Rep. Eddie Yokley, D-11th, of Greene County, who joined every other House Democrat in voting for Williams for speaker, sees him differently.

Yokley called Williams "a fine person, somebody we'll be able to work with to get things done in Tennessee."

Yokley said that despite "some bitterness" on the part of Republicans who backed state Rep. Jason Mumpower, of Bristol, he sees Williams' win as a victory for the state as a whole, and especially for East Tennessee.

Yokley said Williams is "a well-rounded person" who has made friends on both sides of the aisle. He said Williams has become a fishing buddy with state Rep. Butch Borchert, D-Benton County, whom Yokley called "the biggest Democrat in the state."

Yokley also said he believes the fact that state Rep. Gary Odom, the Democratic floor leader of the House, who is a native of Carter County, helped forge the friendship that led to the vote.

According to published reports, Odom approached Williams about the speakership while visiting Carter County over Thanksgiving. Williams is reported to have said he initially thought Odom "was kidding."

Yokley said he is sure the Carter County connection "didn't hurt us," and may have been a factor.

Hawk said Odom has lived in Davidson County for 40 years, and downplayed the Carter County connection.

"The hometown tie really had nothing to do with it," Hawk said. "It was purely a political play," he said.

Yokley said Democrats faced a choice after Republicans gained the slimmest of majorities in the November election: "We could either be dominated or work with people."

On election night, Yokley seemed certain to lose the leadership positions he had attained over the past six years while the House was run by Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, D-Covington.

If Mumpower had been elected speaker, Yokley said, that would not have been the case. "Mumpower did everything he could to get me defeated," Yokley said.

This morning, Yokley said, "I'm hopeful I'll retain something in leadership," since Williams has said he will be bipartisan in committee appointments. But if not, Yokley said, he is certain that he and other legislators across the state will be able to work with Williams, and "it will ultimately benefit my district, and all of East Tennessee."

Committee appointments will not be known for a few days, both Hawk and Yokley said. "It's too early to tell," they both said in separate interviews.

Hawk said that if Williams is truly bipartisan in handing out committee chairmanships, then Republicans should wind up with roughly half of them.

Yokley agreed that something close to a 50/50 split would indicate bipartisanship, though he pointed out that Republicans have been "treating him (Williams) terrible" since the vote.

State Sen. Steve Southerland, R-1st, of Morristown, said he watched the vote on streaming video, after learning Tuesday morning of what was likely to happen.

For that reason, "It wasn't that big a shock to me," Southerland said. But from watching the audience reaction, hearing boos and shouts, and from statements made since, "I know there's a lot of disappointed Republicans in the state."

Historically, Southerland pointed out, legislators who have crossed party lines have been defeated in the next election, though he also pointed out that Williams' legislative district "voted highly Democratic" in the last election.