Former Arizona House Speaker Andy Tobin has been appointed to the Arizona Corporation Commission to fill the seat vacated by Susan Bitter Smith.
The appointment by Gov. Doug Ducey was announced Wednesday.
"Andy will bring to the commission decades of experience in the private sector, a passion for public service, a keen understanding of state regulatory policy, a background leading large organizations in and outside of government, and the needed perspective of rural Arizona," said Ducey in an emailed statement.
"Throughout my life in public service, I have never taken for granted the serious responsibility of putting the people - all the people - first. Rural Arizona needs a voice on the Arizona Corporation Commission, and I intend to be that voice," Tobin said in a released statement.
Smith announced on Dec. 17 that she would resign her position effective Jan. 4, 2016 after the Arizona Attorney General filed a lawsuit accusing her of having a conflict of interest.
She felt she was on solid legal ground to continue her work, but felt the lawsuit and the media attention surrounding it was becoming a distraction to the commission's work.
Tobin is currently the director of the Arizona Department of Insurance and the interim director of the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions. He will leave both positions when he joins the Commission, said Ducey.
Before that, he was the director of the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures.
