Republican Rep. Phil Lovas of Peoria today announced he will be joining the Trump administration’s US Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy.

His resignation from the Legislature will be effective April 17.

In his new role, Lovas will be based in Phoenix and working throughout Arizona, Nevada, California, Hawaii, and Guam.

Lovas served as Trump’s campaign chair in Arizona, and was one of the presidential candidate’s earliest supporters in the state. He had widely been expected to take a job within the administration, and said today that he had been in discussions for a while before this opportunity came up.

He said the job fits in with his background working with small businesses in the hotel industry as the regional director of franchise development with InterContinental Hotels, and he’s excited for the chance to continue advocating for small businesses at the federal level.

“Obviously I didn’t get into (the campaign) looking for anything. I got into it because I thought he was the best person for president. But the opportunity to play a small part in helping his administration and helping small businesses, that’s a great opportunity all around,” he said.

Lovas was first appointed to the House in February 2012 to replace Judy Burges, R-Sun City West. She had moved from the House to replace former Sen. Scott Bundgaard, who resigned following a domestic violence incident on the side of a Phoenix highway.

Lovas won re-election to his Legislative District 22, which includes Sun City and parts of Peoria, Surprise and Glendale, in 2012, 2014 and 2016. His wife, Corinne Lovas, is a fundraiser for Republican candidates and causes.

Lovas’ resignation will set off a fast moving process to replace him at the Capitol. Under state law, once the Secretary of State’s Office declares his seat vacant, the State Republican Party has three days to notify the district’s precinct committeemen of a meeting to select his replacement.

The district’s precinct committeemen then have five days to call a meeting to choose three qualified Republicans for the appointment. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will have the ultimate decision of which of those three will be appointed to replace Lovas, and must make their pick within five days of receiving the list of nominees.

Lovas’ Senate counterpart, Burges, is retiring at the end of the year. His House seatmate, Rep. David Livingston, R-Peoria, officially announced he will seek that Senate seat. That, Lovas  noted, could mean a host of Republican candidates file for the heavily Republican district in the 2018 election.

“LD22 is going to be totally up for grabs,” he said.

Already, four Republican have filed paperwork to run for the House in LD22 next year, and Lovas expected they will likely pursue his vacant seat in the appointment process as well.

Those Republicans already running for the district next year include Frank Carroll, a Republican committeeman in the district; Miryan Gutier-Elm, a former lobbyist and principal at Gutier Group, founded by her father, Alberto; John Heep, a former at-large representative on the Maricopa County Community College District; and Rodney Moffett, a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, who is at the Capitol on occasion.

But Lovas said he’s not endorsing any candidates who may seek to fill his seat, noting that when he was appointed, Burges stayed out of the fray in the appointment process.

Lovas declined to discuss his salary at the new job, but said it pays better than the $24,000 per year he makes as a legislator.