BATON ROUGE - Governor-election John Bel Edwards confirmed Monday what had been long-expected: that former gubernatorial rival Jay Dardenne would serve as his commissioner of administration.

Dardenne, a Republican, came in fourth in the governor's primary behind fellow GOP candidate Senator David Vitter and Edwards, a Democrat.

Dardenne later endorsed Edwards over Vitter in the general election. Both candidates denied that the commissioner's position was part of any agreement for that endorsement.

Edwards made other cabinet announcements Monday afternoon, including Kimberly Robinson as commissioner for the Department of Revenue. Johnson served for six years in the Department of Revenue and was general counsel under Governor Kathleen Blanco.

The new administration will have to tackle Louisiana's growing budget crisis, which is expected to result in more midyear cuts as the state looks at an already sizable $370 million midyear deficit.

"I've seen a lot of though times in my time serving in Louisiana, I don't know that I've ever seen a situation as tough as it is now," Dardenne said at Monday's press conference.

News 2 will have more on today's announcements coming up at 4, 5 and 6.