Blacklock is replacing retired Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, while Abbott's legal adviser James Sullivan takes the open spot on the bench.

Justice Jimmy Blacklock, a conservative ally of Gov. Greg Abbott, has been named the new chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court.

Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Texas Supreme Court Justice Jimmy Blacklock to be the court’s chief justice and named James Sullivan as a justice Monday. Blacklock succeeds Nathan Hecht, the state’s longest-serving Supreme Court justice,

Hecht is the longest-tenured Supreme Court justice in Texas history. He won six reelections and led the court as chief justice for more than a decade.