John Scott has tendered his resignation with Gov. Greg Abbott as Texas secretary of state — having conducted four elections in just over a year — to return to his private law practice.

Scott has served just over 13 months on the job and expects to remain in his post until the end of the year. Often identified as one of the lawyers who assisted Pres. Donald Trump with his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results, Scott is better known at the Capitol as one of Abbott’s go-to fixers, heading the civil division when Abbott was attorney general before being appointed as the first chief operations officer for the Health and Human Services Commission.

“When I took office as Texas Secretary of State in October of last year, I did so with a singular goal and mission in mind: to help restore Texas voters’ confidence in the security of our state’s elections,” Scott wrote in his resignation letter, adding that he listened to officials and stakeholders from across the political spectrum. “I also gained a deep appreciation for the difficult, meticulous and often thankless work of local election officials in safeguarding the integrity of the ballot box.”

Controversy around the voting process did not begin with Trump’s challenge of the 2020 election. Democrats in the Texas Senate refused to confirm Acting Secretary of State David Whitley in 2019, angry that he had botched a purge of noncitizens from the Texas voter rolls.

Whitley was succeeded by Ruth Hughs, who was followed by Scott. Scott is probably best known for his office’s forensic audit of the 2020 election results in major counties, a requirement under Senate Bill 1, a bill that led 60 Texas House Democrats to flee to Washington D.C. to break quorum. 

Those election audits will be completed by Dec. 31, Scott wrote.

Texas is one of 15 states that appoints, rather than elects, the secretary of state. Secretary of state duties also include serving as an international protocol officer. In his letter, Scott wrote that he had met representatives of 60 countries and negotiated agreements with several Mexican states.