Steve Gooch, past chairman of the Lumpkin County Board of Commissioners, was named Wednesday to succeed Dalton attorney Steve Farrow as 9th District representative on the Georgia Department of Transportation board.

Mr. Gooch, 42, of Dahlonega, will serve the remaining three years of Mr. Farrow's term, said Krystal Paulk-Buchanan, GDOT spokeswoman.

He was chosen over Tyson Haynes, the mayor of Chatsworth, and Stacey Reese, a former Republican state representative from Gainesville, Ms. Paulk-Buchanan said.

Mr. Farrow was appointed to the 13-member board in 2008 and resigned in August. In his resignation letter, Mr. Farrow said his full-time legal practice and family responsibilities kept him too busy to serve on the transportation board, according to newspaper archives.

The Georgia General Assembly this year passed a major overhaul of the state's transportation planning offices that critics said would shift funding and decision-making away from the transportation board to the governor and state lawmakers.

The 9th District encompasses much of North Georgia, including all of Northwest Georgia.