NASHVILLE (AP) — A former Tennessee Republican nominee for governor is joining Republican Gov. Bill Lee's administration.

On Monday, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner David Salyers announced that Jim Bryson will become the agency's deputy commissioner of parks and conservation.

Bryson was elected to the state Senate in 2002 and served four years representing Williamson and Davidson counties. He won the Republican nomination for governor in 2006, but lost to former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen in the general election.

Bryson is founder and president of 20/20 Research Inc., a Nashville-based market research consulting, project management and technology firm.

He's the second former state lawmaker that the department hired in recent months. Joe Carr was hired in late March as an assistant commissioner at the Department of Environment and Conservation.