Former Deputy AG Mattax Named Texas Insurance Commissioner

A former top deputy of Republican Gov.-elect Greg Abbott is taking over the Texas Department of Insurance.

David Mattax was named commissioner on Jan. 12. He is currently a deputy attorney general who took the lead defending Republican-drawn Texas voting maps in federal court.

Mattax was deputy attorney general for defense litigation, past director of defense litigation, and past chief of the financial litigation division for the Texas Attorney General’s Office. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas and is admitted to practice before the Texas Federal District Court, Fourth and Fifth Circuit U.S. Courts of Appeal and U.S. Supreme Court. He is past co-chair of the Amos Commission, and a past member of the board of trustees of University United Methodist Church.

State insurance regulators have been thrust into the spotlight in recent years. Federal health officials two years ago blasted former Insurance Commissioner Julia Rathberger for ordering additional training for navigators who helped people get coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

The agency also oversees the state fire marshal’s office, which investigated the 2013 fertilizer plant explosion in West that killed 15 people.

Rathberger stepped down to become Abbott’s deputy chief of staff in the governor’s office.