JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Following Andrew Bailey's announcement on Monday that he will step down as Missouri Attorney General next month to join the FBI, his successor has been named.

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe announced Tuesday morning that Catherine Hanaway will be the state's 45th attorney general and the first woman to hold the seat. This marks the fourth person in the position in less than a decade.

"To go from a town of what is now 639 people to standing in the governor's office and accepting this appointment is truly humbling and almost unbelievable to me," Hanaway said.

She voiced that her priorities while in office for the next three years will be protecting Missourians from violence, financial schemes, or anyone who would invade their constitutional rights, noting that "fighting crime is and will remain job one for this office."

"As I make decisions as AG, realizing that they aren't just going to be words we write in some brief, but these decisions will have an impact on the real lives of Missourians... I will work as hard as I can, I will be innovative, I will adapt to changing times, but more than anything else, I will show Missourians just how much I care," she said.

Hanaway, 61, joined the Missouri House of Representatives in 1998 and made history in Missouri politics as the first and only woman to serve as Speaker of the House in 2003. Shortly after, she was a U.S. attorney with the Eastern District of Missouri between 2005 and 2009, supervising over 4,000 cases, according to the governor's office.

"Catherine is a talented, trusted prosecutor who has a passion for enforcing the rule of law," Kehoe said Tuesday. "I've known Catherine for over 20 years. She represents and understands Missouri's conservative values. She led that historic effort in the House just several years ago to make Missouri the great place that it is today with those conservative values."

In 2016, Hanaway announced her campaign for Missouri governor but lost to Eric Greitens in the primary. Currently, she is an attorney for law firm Husch Blackwell, according to their website.

Bailey will serve as the co-deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation alongside Dan Bongino, directly under FBI Director Kash Patel. His resignation will take effect on Monday, Sept. 8.

Congresswoman Ann Wagner released the following statement on the announcement Tuesday that reads, in part:

"Having worked closely with Catherine for decades, I am proud to call her a close friend and someone who will always do what is right for Missouri, for the people she will represent, and to the Constitution she has sworn to uphold and protect."