Richardson tapped for commerce post

CHICAGO — President-elect Obama will name New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as his pick for commerce secretary today in Chicago, Democratic officials said.

Richardson is the second Southwestern governor Obama has tapped this week for his Cabinet, after Monday's announcement of Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as his nominee for secretary of homeland security. Richardson's nomination has been all but announced for weeks.

A two-term governor, Richardson, 61, was rumored last summer to be a possible Obama running mate. He also was believed to be interested in the secretary of state job before Hillary Rodham Clinton's selection.

A former secretary of energy and United Nations ambassador during President Clinton's administration, Richardson has shown a knack for diplomacy. He has negotiated with dictators and worked to free hostages.

After finishing forth in the Iowa caucuses, Richardson dropped out of the presidential race in January and endorsed Obama in March. The backing of the nation's top Hispanic elected official provided Obama a major boost.

Richardson had been a close friend of the Clintons, something that made his endorsement of Obama especially striking.

Once confirmed, Richard's role at the Department of Commerce would be to oversee an agency of 40,000 people that compiles economic data, monitors the weather, runs the Census Bureau, helps administer the airwaves and adjudicates trade complaints against products such as shrimp from Thailand and lumber from Canada.

Material from Bloomberg News is included in this report.