Republican Gov. Greg Abbott appointed attorney Evan Young on Monday to fill a Texas Supreme Court vacancy.
Young replaces former justice Eva Guzman, who resigned to run for attorney general in 2022.
Young, who clerked for the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, will finish Guzman's six-year term that is up for re-election next year.
"Evan Young is a proven legal scholar and public servant, making him an ideal pick for the Supreme Court of Texas," Abbott said in a statement.
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It is Abbott's fifth appointment to the nine-member court, which Republicans entirely control. Young is an attorney for the Houston-based law firm Baker Botts and had worked in the Justice Department during President George W. Bush's administration.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
