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.

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.

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,