Former Kansas congressman Tim Huelskamp will become the new president of a free-market think tank also known for promoting skepticism about climate change.

The Heartland Institute announced Thursday that its board of directors selected Huelskamp and that the former Republican congressman would take over as president next month. The nonprofit institute is based in the Chicago suburbs and has held 12 conferences on climate change since 2008.

Huelskamp was a tea party favorite during his three terms in Congress representing the 1st District of western and central Kansas.

But he angered business and farm groups and lost the GOP primary last year to Great Bend physician Roger Marshall, who won the seat in November.

Huelskamp served 14 years in the Kansas Senate before being elected to Congress in 2010.