A former candidate for Marion County prosecutor will take over as head of the state’s Alcohol and Tobacco Commission.

Gov. Mitch Daniels on Thursday appointed Mark Massa, who served as Daniels’ general counsel for five years before leaving the post earlier this year to run for prosecutor. Massa, a Republican, lost by about four percentage points to Democrat Terry Curry in November’s election.

Massa, 49, replaces Judge P. Thomas Snow, who resigned in November. Alex Huskey, superintendent of the Indiana Excise Police, had served as interim chairman of the commission and will resume his old post.

Massa, who will begin his new job Dec. 13, previously practiced law at Riley, Bennett & Egloff LLP, was a law clerk for Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard, was an assistant U.S. Attorney, and was chief counsel under Marion County Prosecutor Scott Newman.

Before he became a lawyer, Massa was a speechwriter for Gov. Robert D. Orr.