U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn on Monday appointed as his district director a former Republican state legislator who lost a bid for reelection in November.

Dennis Hisey, a former three-term El Paso County commissioner and one-term state senator, will run the district office for the Colorado Springs Republican, who was was sworn in this week to a ninth term representing the El Paso County-based 5th Congressional District.

“I am excited to welcome Dennis onto my team and look forward to the experience, dedication, and expertise he brings,” Lamborn said in a news release. “His assistance will be critical in the 118th Congress as I fight to protect Colorado families, our Constitution, and individual freedoms.”

An Oregon native, Hisey moved to El Paso County four decades ago, Lamborn’s office said. He has experience in emergency management and a background in the logging industry and has owned and operated multiple small businesses.

Hisey takes over for Dale Anderson, the congressman’s Washington, D.C.-based chief of staff, who has been serving as interim district director since last summer, when Lamborn’s prior district director, Norm Steen, returned to the private sector.

Previous occupants of Lamborn’s district director position include former El Paso County GOP Chairman Josh Hosler and former U.S. Small Business Administration regional administrator Dan Nordberg, a former Republican state representative, who worked for Lamborn before winning election to the legislature.

During his terms on the county commission, Hisey served on the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments and the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority. He represented Senate District 2 in the legislature, where he sat on the Joint Budget Committee and served on the Appropriations, Transportation & Energy and Finance committees.

Hisey lost a bid for a second term in the state Senate in November to Democrat Tony Exum, who served four nonconsecutive terms in the state House of Representatives before winning the race for the upper chamber.

In August, 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen, a Republican, opened an investigation into a criminal complaint filed by a Democratic-leaning nonprofit alleging that Hisey voted illegally in last year’s primary election using an address in Colorado Springs while he resided elsewhere.

Hisey denies he violated Colorado’s residency laws and accused his opponents of “trying to make political hay out of this.”

A spokesman for Allen told Colorado Politics this week that the investigation is ongoing. A spokeswoman for Lamborn declined to comment on the allegations.

Last summer, El Paso County grand jury handed down a felony indictment against former state Sen. Pete Lee, alleging the Colorado Springs Democrat misrepresented his residency for voting purposes, but a judge dismissed the charges a couple months later after finding that an investigator in Allen’s office presented erroneous information to the grand jury.

Democratic state Rep. Tracey Bernett of Longmont, who faces felony and misdemeanor charges alleging she falsified her residency for purposes of running for office, resigned her seat Sunday, on the eve of this year’s legislative session.

Hisey and his wife of 23 years, Kathy, have five grown children and multiple grandchildren, Lamborn’s office said.