SC budget director resigns post to go to Texas

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The director of the South Carolina agency that oversees much of state government operations has resigned six months after Gov. Nikki Haley picked her for the job.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s office announced Wednesday that Eleanor Kitzman will start her job as that state’s insurance commissioner on Aug. 15. Her term there is set to expire in February 2013.

Haley said in January she won a huge victory when the board that oversees the state Budget and Control Board unanimously approved her choice to lead the agency.

Kitzman led the state Insurance Department from 2005 to 2007.

The Houston native moved to South Carolina in 1999 and founded Driver’s Choice Insurance. She sold that business in 2004.

The 54-year-old lost her bid for lieutenant governor in last year’s GOP primary.