Gov. John Lynch kept his side of the bargain.

The New Hampshire Democrat named Bonnie Newman, a Republican, to fill the Senate seat that will be vacated by Judd Gregg, (R) once -- and assuming -- Gregg is confirmed as secretary of commerce.

Picking a Republican was not, shall we say, universally popular among state Democrats, but that was part of the deal. Gregg told the Obama administration, and apparently Lynch as well, that he would accept the Cabinet post only if the governor appointed a Republican to succeed him. He didn't want to be responsible for the Democrats' getting an additional Senate seat, especially as they approach the magical number of 60, which would be able to beat back GOP filibusters (assuming all the Dems voted together, which is not always a sure thing).

Newman was Gregg's chief of staff when he was in the House. She served in the Reagan and Bush 41 administrations. But she also headed up "Republicans for Lynch" in 2004, when Lynch first sought the governorship, and so that made her palatable to Lynch and other Dems. Newman will not run in 2010, when Gregg's term would have expired.

But apparently Paul Hodes will. The second-term Democratic congressman is ready to throw his hat in the ring, now that Gregg will be out of the picture. On the GOP side, speculation is on John Sununu, who lost his Senate seat to Democrat Jeanne Shaheen last year.

We wrote about Gregg trading his Senate seat for a Cabinet post yesterday. Many are still wondering why the three-term Republican would do it, and no one put it better than Slate's Mickey Kaus, in his kausfiles blog this morning:

What could Sen. Judd Gregg possibly do in a second-tier cabinet position -- Commerce -- to advance his conservative philosophy that would possibly make up for giving his ideological opponents a 60-seat majority in the Senate? Stop card check? Achieve a free trade agenda? ... Quick, name Bush's last Commerce secretary. ... Even if New Hampshire's Democratic governor angers his party by appointing a Republican to replace Gregg, will it be an anti-card-check Republican? ... Gregg could go down as the biggest sucker since Arthur Goldberg, who let Lyndon Johnson con him into giving up a lifetime Supreme Court seat to become Ambassador to the U.N.

New Hampshire is now the fourth state to have two women in the Senate, joining California (Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer), Washington (Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell), and Maine (Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins).

And, as Kris Schultz of Concord, N.H., points out, New Hampshire is now the second state -- along with Maine -- to have a majority female congressional delegation. In addition to its two senators, Carol Shea-Porter (D) represents one of the Granite State's two House seats (and in Maine, Democrat Chellie Pingree holds one of the state's two House seats).

TRIVIA QUESTION: Judd Gregg served as governor, representative and senator. Now he's headed to the Cabinet. Who was the last person to hold all of these positions? Send answers to politicaljunkie@npr.org

categories: Washington Senators

4:55 - February 3, 2009

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