N.H. Governor Picks a Republican Woman to Fill Senate Seat

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch picked Bonnie Newman , a Republican businesswoman and former government official, to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Judd Gregg , President Barack Obama ’s nominee to be commerce secretary. Newman — a Lynch supporter despite his Democratic and her Republican ties – agreed to serve only the remaining two years of Gregg’s term. Gregg had insisted on a Republican succeeding him, to keep the current balance of power in the Senate. At a news conference in Concord, N.H., Lynch praised the 63-year-old Newman, saying she “understands government and how it works.” The Union Leader detailed her long resume, including jobs as Gregg’s chief of staff, an assistant commerce secretary in the Reagan administration, an assistant to the president in George H.W. Bush’s White House, interim president at the University of New Hampshire and executive dean at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. The paper reported that Newman ... (link)