Following a meeting Monday, Republicans who control the Indiana House picked a key state budget negotiator on as the next speaker.

State Representative Todd Huston, age 47 of Fishers, won the private vote among GOP House members that was held 13 days after the announcement that longtime House Speaker Brian Bosma announced his retirement following the 2020 legislative session.

Huston was first elected to the Legislature in 2012 representing a Hamilton County district in the fast-growing northern Indianapolis suburbs. Bosma discussed that he will work closely with Huston during the upcoming session that begins in early January and is set to adjourn in mid-March.

Huston will take over GOP caucus leadership heading into the November 2020 election, when all 100 House seats will be on the ballot and Republicans will be seeking to retain their two-thirds super-majority that allows them to take action even without any Democrats present.

Huston is a senior vice president of the College Board, the company that administers the SAT college admissions test and high school advance placement exams. He was the state Republican Party treasurer and was chief of staff for GOP former state schools superintendent Tony Bennett before winning election to the Legislature. Huston was Bennett’s chief of staff in 2009 and 2010 as the state schools superintendent worked with then-Governor Mitch Daniels on education overhaul plans that were met with much criticism, including launch of the nation’s broadest private school voucher program, a merit pay system for teachers and pushing for state takeover of public schools with records of low student scores on standardized exams.