Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., is a likely frontrunner to be President Barack Obama's pick for Commerce secretary. Gregg, if selected, will replace former nominee Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., who withdrew his name in January due to a grand jury investigation into his assignment of state government contracts. The appointment could be announced as early as today, according to media reports.
The appointment could have wide-ranging implications for the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. If Gov. John Lynch, D-N.H., picks a Democrat to fill Gregg's seat, and if Minnesota Senate candidate Al Franken maintains his lead over Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., in a recount, the Democratic party would have a filibuster-proof majority of 60 seats, including two independents who caucus with the Democrats.
Gregg, if selected, will be the third Republican member of Obama's cabinet, joining Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who is continuing on from President George W. Bush's administration, and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a former congressman from Illinois.
Gregg confirmed that he was under consideration for the position in a statement on Friday, saying he was "honored" to be a candidate. He declined to comment in a subsequent news conference about whether he would accept the job without assurances that his successor would be a Republican.
Gregg, who attended Columbia University and Boston University Law School, worked as a lawyer before being elected to the House of Representatives in 1981. He was governor of New Hampshire from 1989 to 1993, and was then elected to the Senate. Gregg and his wife, Kathleen, have three children, all of whom attended Dartmouth: Molly Gregg '00, Sarah Gregg '02 and Joshua Gregg '06. He received an honorary degree from Dartmouth in 2006, when he was the Commencement speaker at his son's graduation.
Joe McQuaid, an influential conservative and publisher of the Manchester Union Leader, said on Saturday that Gregg would have his blessing to join Obama's Cabinet, but only if Lynch agreed to appoint a Republican to the vacated seat.
"Otherwise, the appointment would be seen through as Obama's clever move to gain a filibuster-proof Senate majority; and Gregg's acceptance would make his name mud in Republican circles, in New Hampshire and beyond," McQuaid wrote in an editorial posted on the Union Leader's web site.
McQuaid also wrote that he knew another good candidate for the job, suggesting that Lynch appoint former Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., who lost his reelection bid to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., the former governor of New Hampshire, in November.
Republican leaders who appeared on early-morning news programs on Sunday seemed confident that Lynch would not appoint a Democrat to the seat.
"Sen. Gregg has assured me that if this were to happen, if it were to happen, it would not change the make-up of the Senate," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation."
"In other words, whoever is appointed to replace him would caucus with Senate Republicans, so I think it would have no impact on the balance of power in the Senate," McConnell continued.
The appointment of a Democrat to fill Gregg's seat would represent the culmination of a large leftward shift in New Hampshire's elected state officials. In 2006, Democrats won majorities in both chambers of the state legislature for the first time since 1874. When Second District Rep. Paul Hodes '72, D-N.H., won his seat in 2006, the district had been under Republican control for 87 of the last 91 years. If Gregg becomes Commerce secretary, for the first time in at least 100 years, both state representatives, one senator and the governor could all be Democrats.
Whoever is appointed to fill Gregg's seat will face reelection in 2010, leading some analysts to speculate that Lynch might appoint a placeholder -- someone who publicly agrees not to seek reelection -- to allow for an open election at that time.
Gregg's and Lynch's offices and the New Hampshire Democratic party did not respond to requests for comment. Michael Hamilton, the executive director of the New Hampshire Republican party, declined to comment.
