Abbott selects aide for high court
AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced the selection of Jimmy Blacklock, his trusted general counsel in the state’s top elective office, to replace Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett.
In moving to replace Willett, the unofficial Twitter Laureate of Texas, Abbott picked someone at the other end of the tech spectrum: Blacklock has no Twitter account and uses a flip phone.
Abbott said he selected Blacklock, a former Houston attorney with whom he has worked for nearly two decades, because of his conservative positions on the law, the same principles that have distinguished all of his judicial nominees.
Monday’s selection is subject to Willett being confirmed by the U.S. Senate to join the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals next month.
Blacklock has worked as Abbott’s general counsel since he became governor in January 2015. Prior to that, he had served as a deputy Texas attorney general and legal counsel since March 2012 when Abbott was attorney general.
Before that, Blacklock was a special assistant and senior counsel to Abbott and was an assistant solicitor general, where he handled appellate filings on key cases while Abbott was challenging policies of then-President Barack Obama.
“He will be a conservative voice on the court,” Abbott said.