NASHVILLE (AP) - The state Supreme Court on Monday named Republican Gov. Bill Haslam's top legal adviser, Herbert Slatery, as Tennessee's next attorney general.
The announcement came in the aftermath of a failed campaign led by Republican Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey to oust three Democratic justices who make up a majority on the five-member court. That effort focused heavily on incumbent Attorney General Bob Cooper's refusal to take part in a multistate lawsuit challenging President Barack Obama's health care law.
The justices did not take questions from reporters about why they decided against appointing Cooper, who had previously served as legal counsel for Haslam's Democratic predecessor, Phil Bredesen.
Chief Justice Sharon Lee cited what she called Slatery's "proven leadership ability and sound judgment" in their unanimous selection.
"He has played an important role in drafting major legislation during the current term and has worked closely with all branches of government," she said.
Lee had touted what she called a "commitment of a transparent process" for application process for the next eight-year term as attorney general, though only the initial interviews were conducted in public.
Slatery declined to say whether he would have joined the health care lawsuit.
"You need to look at cost, you need to look at the issue, you need to communicate well with the leaders of the state to see what their positions are," Slater said. "I'm not in a positon where I can answer as to whether I would join the Obamacare lawsuit.
"That's past, we need to move on," he said. "I want to move forward, not look back."
Tennessee is the only state in the country where the high court names the attorney general.
House Democratic leader Craig Fitzhugh criticized the justices for caving to political pressure in their decision to replace Cooper with a Republican, saying they "capitulated" t o Ramsey and his allies who had tried to defeat them in the August retention elections.
Fitzhugh called the justices' decision "an insult to voters who retained them."
Fitzhugh said Democrats may now support longstanding efforts by some Republicans to change the state constitution regarding the way the attorney general gains office. Previous proposals have included having the Legislature appoint the attorney general or holding popular elections.
Haslam made Slatery his first Cabinet appointment after his election in 2010. Slatery had been Haslam's gubernatorial campaign treasurer, and the two men had served together as elders at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in Knoxville. He was also a member of Haslam's six-member transition team when he was elected Knoxville mayor in 2003.
Slatery ,62, is a former chairman of the Knoxville law firm Egerton, McAfee, Armistead & Davis, where he had worked for 30 years specializing in private business transactio ns and local government organizations. He was legal counsel for wholesale grocer H.T. Hackney Co., chairman of the Public Building Authority in Knox County and was a lawyer for the county's Industrial Development Board.
As legal counsel to the Haslam administration, Slatery played a lead role in passing new laws capping payouts in civil lawsuits and changing the way injured employees can pursue workers' compensation claims.
The other finalists for the position were state Sen. Doug Overbey, R-Maryville; courts administrator Bill Young; and private attorneys Gino Bulso of Nashville and Mark Fulks of Johnson City.
Slatery earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee in 1980 and his bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia in 1974.
Slaterly said it wasn't immediately clear when he would take office.