FILE - Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, front center, is flanked by state Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, front left, and Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, front right, with others looking on as he signs a bill that provides additional funding for security at the U.S.-Mexico border on Sept. 17, 2021, in Fort Worth, Texas. Abbott on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, named Nelson, a longtime GOP lawmaker with a record of bipartisan appeal, as his choice to become the state's new election chief after facing blowback and scrutiny over his past picks to oversee voting. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
FILE - Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, front center, is flanked by state Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, front left, and Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, front right, with others looking on as he signs a bill that provides additional funding for security at the U.S.-Mexico border on Sept. 17, 2021, in Fort Worth, Texas. Abbott on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, named Nelson, a longtime GOP lawmaker with a record of bipartisan appeal, as his choice to become the state's new election chief after facing blowback and scrutiny over his past picks to oversee voting. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday tapped a longtime Republican lawmaker to be Texas' new elections chief, a pick who could enjoy a smoother confirmation process following the blowback and scrutiny his two previous picks faced.
Jane Nelson, a state senator who didn't seek reelection last month, hasn't been a divisive figure in the Legislature and gives Abbott a candidate with a strong path to confirmation in the state Senate chamber where she served for 30 years.
The announcement followed , whose appointment in 2021 came under immediate criticism over his brief stint as a lawyer on former President Donald Trump's legal team. Scott was preceded by David Whitley, a former Abbott aide after calling into the question the U.S. citizenship of thousands of voters based on flawed data.
“Voters expect fair elections with accurate, timely results, and I am committed to making that happen,” Nelson said in a statement.
Nelson is a former teacher from suburban Dallas and held a long stint as the senate's chief budget writer. The Texas secretary of state's office is still in the process of the 2020 election despite no evidence of widespread fraud.