By Alexander Mooney, CNN

Bill Richardson’s withdrawal from his commerce secretary nomination Sunday didn’t just leave a major gap in the new administration, but it also sorely disappointed Latinos who view the New Mexico governor as their most prominent representative.

“We are hugely disappointed. It’s a stunned community out there,” said Janet Murguía, president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.

“He is a very well-recognized leader not just in the Latino community but in this country and he has a long record of public service,” she said.

Richardson was set to serve as the most high-profile Latino in President-elect Barack Obama’s administration, and the announcement of Richardson’s nomination in December drew praise from several Hispanic organizations.

Yet many Latino bloggers and activists openly grumbled that the president-elect should have given Richardson an even more prominent post in the administration, namely secretary of state.

“Secretary of commerce equals ‘Where we stick Latinos to say we’re diverse,’ ” one prominent Latino blog declared in December.

But with Richardson stepping aside from consideration for commerce secretary amid an ethics investigation relating to a company that has done business with his state, only two Latinos are now set to serve in the new Cabinet: Labor secretary-designate Hilda Solis and Interior secretary-designate Ken Salazar, neither of which, some critics have argued, will hold a prominent Cabinet post.

That’s the same number that President Bush and former President Bill Clinton had in their Cabinets at a maximum at any given time.

The prospect of having only two Latinos on Obama’s Cabinet riles some members of the Hispanic community who say their support of Obama was crucial to his success on Election Day

“It’s disappointing at least for now that this administration doesn’t have three Latinos as members of its Cabinet,” said Arturo Vargas, the executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

“That would have been one of President-elect Obama’s immediate legacies, to have appointed three Latinos to full Cabinet positions,” Arturo added.

Exit polls on Election Day show Obama, a Democrat, won the Latino vote by more than 2-1 over Republican Sen. John McCain. Latinos’ support of Obama was significantly greater than their support of the 2004 Democratic nominee, John Kerry, who that year won the Latino vote by only 9 percentage points over Bush.

Obama’s support among Latinos especially made a difference in a string of tossup states — including New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Florida — and Latino leaders had hoped the support would translate to several high-profile posts in the new administration.

“President-elect Barack Obama owes Latinos much more than three Cabinet positions. That’s just a beginning of the kind of inclusion, involvement and engagement that his entire presidency has to have with Latinos,” Arturo said.

Community leaders are pressing the Obama transition team to consider a host of other prominent Latinos for the Department of Commerce post, including Miami, Florida, Mayor Manny Diaz and U.S. Rep. Nydia Vilasquez of New York.

“We do think another Latino should replace Mr. Richardson,” Murguía of NCLR said. “It’s not out of a sense of entitlement, it’s really out of sense of historic precedent. President-elect Obama was ushered into office by a wide diverse coalition of different voters. There is a strong sense of pride among Latino voters that they played a special role.”

The Obama transition team isn’t commenting on who is under consideration to replace Richardson, though Berkeley professor and Clinton administration alum Laura Tyson as well as Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius are reportedly on top of the list, neither of whom is Hispanic. Sebelius has said she is not interested in the post.

“There are also minority replacements, but I think the Latino community particularly is going to watch this appointment,” said Leslie Sanchez, a Republican strategist and CNN contributor.

Obama transition officials say the president-elect has already set a record for the number of Hispanics appointed to White House posts and discount criticisms the Latino community is getting slighted.

“Based on what I can cull from records, we have more Hispanics in senior positions in this White House than under either President Bush or President Clinton,” Obama’s incoming chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, recently told Politico.

But even as prominent Hispanic leaders publicly call for the president-elect to replace Richardson with another Latino appointee, not all Latinos necessarily feel the same way.

“I think we are beyond that at this point. We need to have the very best people in these jobs. I hope that they pick someone equally brilliant and highly experienced. We are all in it together,” said Fernando Espuelas, host and managing editor of Café Espuelas, a Los Angeles Spanish-language radio talk show.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A labor official says Rep. Hilda Solis of California will be nominated as labor secretary by President-elect Barack Obama.

The Democratic congresswoman was just elected to her fifth term representing heavily Hispanic portions of eastern Los Angeles County and east L.A. She is the daughter of Mexican and Nicaraguan immigrants and has been the only member of Congress of Central American descent.

The official spoke on conditions of anonymity because an announcement has not been made yet. A call to Solis’s office was not immediately returned.

Solis, 51, has focused on immigration and environment issues while in the House.

An announcement is expected from the Obama transition team in the next few days.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., said Tuesday he will stay in the House and pass on becoming U.S. trade representative in Barack Obama’s administration.

Becerra emerged as the leading candidate for the post and interviewed with Obama earlier this month. In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, he said he decided he wanted to stay in the House to work on various issues, including immigration reform and universal health care.

He said he’d informed the Obama team of his decision.

Becerra said he felt elated when first approached about the job, but that ultimately “I wasn’t sure if at the end I only wanted to be focused on trade.”

Becerra, who was just elected to his ninth term representing Los Angeles, faced competing pressures in considering whether to accept the Cabinet post.

He is moving up the ladder on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee that writes taxes and oversees health care and trade, and was just chosen vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.

It could be difficult for another Latino to immediately replace Becerra in the House Democratic leadership. Becerra said he heard from members of the Latino community who wanted to ensure he was involved as Congress grapples with immigration, health care, tax code reform and other issues.

“You all of a sudden find how much you’re really wanted,” Becerra said.

Becerra also had his family to think about. His wife, Carolina Reyes, is a physician in Los Angeles, and he has three daughters, aged 15, 13, and 10, who live there, too.

With Becerra removing himself from contention, other names circulating for the trade job include former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, also said to be under consideration to become transportation secretary.

Kirk declined to comment Tuesday in response to an e-mail from the AP. An Obama transition spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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By M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News

Sen. Ken Salazar is expected to become Interior secretary in President-elect Barack Obama’s Cabinet, with a formal announcement to come within days, sources told the Rocky Mountain News on Monday.

Salazar has long been considered a leading candidate for Interior secretary, based in part on his past work leading the state Department of Natural Resources.

On Monday, three Democratic sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said Salazar had been offered the job, and the announcement was expected within 48 hours.

“It’s a done deal,” said one source, although others said it was a difficult decision for Salazar, four years into his first term as U.S. senator.

“He’s a very thoughtful guy, and this is a big decision,” one source said. “It’s a great opportunity, but so is being in the Senate.”

At a televised news conference earlier in the day, Obama had to explain why he left out an announcement of the Interior secretary position while he was unveiling the rest of the team that will oversee energy and environment issues.

The Interior secretary oversees vast tracts of public lands, including environmentally sensitive areas where President Bush’s Interior Department tried to vastly expand oil drilling and minerals extraction.

“In the 21st century, we know that the future of our economy and national security is inextricably linked to one challenge: energy,” Obama said. “So today I’m pleased to introduce the majority of the team that will lead our efforts on energy and the environment. I say the majority because we are going to be doing separate announcements for the secretary of the Interior, who is going to have a lot to do on energy policy.”

The Reuters news agency first touched off the new round of speculation with a report calling Salazar “the leading contender.” Already, political observers in Colorado were speculating about the political ramifications, since Gov. Bill Ritter would have to pick a replacement to fill out the remaining two years of Salazar’s term.

“I have very mixed emotions,” Ritter said in a written statement. “Ken Salazar has been an extremely effective United States Senator for Colorado these past four years, particularly as a moderate centrist. But if a nomination to join the Obama administration comes to pass, Sen. Salazar would make an equally outstanding Interior secretary for the country, for the West and for Colorado.

“He has a long and accomplished record on these issues, from his days in the Romer administration to his time as Colorado’s attorney general and as a U.S. Senator. For now, though, we shall wait and see what, if anything, transpires.”

Brent Wilkes, national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said that Salazar would be a great choice. But he also raised concerns about the future of the U.S. Senate seat.

“One caveat with Ken Salazar is a concern about his Senate seat,” Wilkes said. “We only have three Latino senators. We’d like to hold on to those seats. And that’s a seat that could go Republican easily if you don’t have the right candidate.”

Sen. Ken Salazar

* Born: March 2, 1955

* Hometown: Alamosa. Grew up on a farm in the San Luis Valley, where his family has lived and farmed for five generations.

* Education: Attended Centauri High School and St. Francis Seminary. Earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Colorado College in 1977 and a law degree from the University of Michigan in 1981.

* Private career: Helped operate the family farm in the San Luis Valley. Owned and helped operate a variety of small businesses - including a Dairy Queen franchise - and a private law practice.

* Public service: Served in former Gov. Roy Romer’s Cabinet from 1987 to 1994. Served as Colorado attorney general from 1999 to 2004. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004.

U.S. Department of the Interior

Mission statement

The Mission of the Department of the Interior is to protect and provide access to our nation’s natural and cultural heritage and honor our trust responsibilities to Indian tribes and our commitments to island communities.

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By Christi Parsons and John McCormick, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Washington and Chicago — When Barack Obama said Wednesday that he was naming Bill Richardson as his Commerce secretary, the president-elect noted the New Mexico governor’s many achievements: his stints as a U.S. congressman, United Nations ambassador and Energy secretary.

Then Obama brought up the handshakes. Richardson often brags that he is in the Guinness World Records for the time he shook 13,392 hands in an eight-hour period.

“All of this reflects a determination to reach out and understand where people are coming from — what they hope for, and what he can do to help,” Obama said.

But it also reflects Richardson’s ambitions as a politician. Obama’s appointment of Richardson comes after his announcement this week that he had chosen Hillary Rodham Clinton to be secretary of State, a job that some Latino activists had hoped would go to Richardson.

In naming the Democratic governor to the Commerce post, Obama emphasized the importance of the job in this economic climate and described it in international terms, which raised questions about whether Richardson’s larger-than-life character would lead to tension among the president-elect’s team of economic advisors and other Cabinet picks.

Richardson said he considered the Commerce Department the “nerve center” in the effort to rejuvenate the economy.

“Boosting commerce between states and nations is not just a path to solvency and growth, it’s the only path,” Richardson said. “We will revitalize our nation’s historic strength in manufacturing, while restoring our position of respect in the world.”

William Daley, who served in President Clinton’s Cabinet with Richardson, acknowledged that the governor had a big personality. But Daley, a former Commerce secretary, said Richardson wasn’t prone to conflict or drama.

“He’s not always politically correct,” Daley said. “But he gets away with it because he’s not mean-spirited about it.”

Like Obama, Richardson has been informed by a childhood spent largely outside the U.S. He grew up in Mexico City in the 1950s, the son of an American bank manager, before going to private school in Massachusetts.

Richardson represented northern New Mexico in Congress for 15 years, making several international missions as a special envoy. He is credited with winning the release of hostages, U.S. service members and prisoners in North Korea, Iraq and Cuba.

President Clinton nominated him to serve as ambassador to the United Nations in 1997. A year later he became Energy secretary.

Richardson spent much of his time at the Energy Department dealing with security scandals at the nation’s nuclear laboratories, most notably at Los Alamos in New Mexico. Richardson endured much of the heat from the government’s failed prosecution of Los Alamos nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee.

Richardson later called his time as an agency head frustrating, comparing it unfavorably to the job of governor, where “you can set the agenda.”

In 2002, he was elected New Mexico governor after a campaign that included the record-breaking handshake marathon.

But his diplomatic career has lived on. Two years ago he helped win the release of Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Tribune journalist Paul Salopek, who was jailed in Darfur.

With the U.S. at the center of the global financial crisis, Daley said he expected Richardson would have a harder time with the job than Daley did during the booming 1990s.

“Everyone in the world wanted everything American,” Daley said. “They don’t need us as much, and we can’t go around and harangue them as much. . . . It’s a lot more complicated.”

Among Latino leaders, who played a big role in Obama’s victory, the selection of Richardson allays some concerns. Activists also warmly greeted reports that Rep. Xavier Becerra, a Democrat from Los Angeles, is a leading candidate for U.S. trade representative.

Richardson’s “relationships with leaders abroad, especially in Latin America, will help President-elect Obama repair our country’s tarnished image and hopefully initiate a new ‘good neighbor’ era between the U.S. and Latin America,” said Antonio Gonzalez, president of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project.

Nevertheless, Latino lawmakers this week sent Obama a letter recommending several Latino candidates for the Cabinet.

Obama said Wednesday that he valued diversity but thought about qualifications first and foremost.

In Richardson’s view, the president-elect put some thought into assembling a diverse team.

“It will be a great honor,” Richardson said, “to serve once again a president who recognizes that America’s diverse heritage is its greatest strength.”

Parsons is a writer in our Washington bureau. McCormick writes for the Chicago Tribune.

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U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey is taking over as head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, giving him the reins of a political operation charged with raising money, recruiting candidates, and winning seats across the nation.

The job gives Menendez a high-profile post not quite three years into his tenure in the Senate, and a role among top decisionmakers.

“It puts me in a leadership room with a very small universe of people,” Menendez said, adding that his say on key decisions and increased access to the White House would benefit New Jersey. “I don’t get any greater pay, but I get a greater say.”

Menendez becomes the first Hispanic to head a campaign committee in either the House or the Senate, according to the DSCC.

His recruiting job includes helping find elected Senate replacements for President-elect Obama, Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. and, possibly, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, rumored to be close to joining the Obama administration.

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President-elect Barack Obama has chosen New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to be commerce secretary, adding a prominent Hispanic and one-time Democratic rival to his expanding Cabinet.

Obama planned to announce the nomination after Thanksgiving, according to a Democratic official familiar with the discussions. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the negotiations and did so on condition of anonymity.

Richardson, 61, had a distinguished and visible career in Washington before returning to New Mexico, where he was elected governor in 2002. Richardson served as U.N. ambassador under President Bill Clinton and later as energy secretary. He was in the House from 1983 to 1997.

Clinton sent Richardson on several high-level diplomatic missions while he was in Congress, including direct talks with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

In Richardson, Obama will get a secretary of commerce who has been described as relentless and competitive, with a jocular sense of humor.

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The 21 members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus unanimously elected Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) as their next chair, yesterday, announced Rep. Velazquez’s office. She replaces Rep. Joe Baca (D-CA) as the leader of the caucus and immediately announced a strong agenda for the Caucus to pursue in the incoming 111th Congress.

“It is an honor to be chosen to lead the Congressional Hispanic Caucus for the 111th Congress,” said Congresswoman Velazquez, in a press release. “By tapping into the strength of Hispanic communities and organizations across the country, I will work with my colleagues in the CHC to create measurable change.”

Rep. Velazquez, who was first elected to congress in 1992 and represents parts of Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan, already chairs the House Small Business Committee. Her first remarks as chair of the caucus emphasized the role of small business in creating community wealth.

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By Al Kamen, Washington Post

As Hillary Rodham Clinton inches toward becoming secretary of state, Latino advocates are asking: Whither Bill Richardson?

The New Mexico governor has been the best hope for a Latino to land a high-ranking post in the new administration. But Richardson, a former U.N. ambassador and energy secretary, appears to have lost out to Clinton — although he could land another Cabinet post, perhaps at Interior.

Still, anxiety is running high among Latino leaders because Obama has yet to name a Latino to a top White House or Cabinet position. This is on the minds of senior transition officials — including Obama’s designated chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel — who are said to be considering Latino candidates for several Cabinet posts.

“The Obama transition team and the chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, understand the role that the Latino vote played in this election, and I think we will see representation in the Obama Cabinet and at the White House,” said Janet Murguia, president of the National Council of La Raza.

Rep. Xavier Becerra (Calif.), a member of the House Democratic leadership, said he has been forwarding the names of Latino candidates “for every type of position you can think of in the federal government, from Cabinet on down.”

“We can remember the days when people said we had no applications, or there’s no one qualified,” Becerra said. “Everyone understands that the days of excuses are over.”

Becerra, who’s been mentioned as a candidate for labor secretary, said he is “not looking” for an administration job.

At least four Latino candidates are said to be under consideration to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development: Miami Mayor Manny Diaz; Adolfo Carrion Jr., a longtime New York pol, and Bronx borough president; Saul Ramirez Jr., a former deputy HUD secretary; and Nelson A. Diaz, who has been a judge and a HUD general counsel.

As for Richardson, Murguia suggested he could serve as secretary of commerce or the interior. “Perhaps there’s an ambassador role to China,” she added.

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By Charles Thomas, ABC 7

One day after the president-elect officially resigned from the US Senate, several people are trying to position themselves to be appointed to fill that seat.

Add the name of 4th District Congressman Luis Gutierrez to the growing list of those who want to replace Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate. Unlike other members of Chicago’s congressional delegation who covet the job, Gutierrez says he’ll take the low-profile approach.

“If he calls me to serve, I will serve,” said Gutierrez.

Casually sitting in his dining room, the eight-term congressional veteran Luis Gutierrez made a lower key pitch to become the next U.S. senator from Illinois. Recognizing the decision will be made only by his friend, Governor Rod Blagojevich, there’s no sense, Gutierrez says, in putting on a public relations blitz.

“This is a campaign about convincing one voter, the governor of the State of Illinois, and I have a meeting scheduled (with him),” said Gutierrez.

Over the weekend, supporters of West Sider Danny Davis held a news conference to push their man for the job. On the North Side, Jan Schakowsky has been very public about her interest, and ditto for South Sider Jesse Jackson Jr.

Since 1992, Gutierrez has represented the 4th District, which snakes its way through heavily Latino neighborhoods on the North and South sides and Cicero. The former city alderman is now hailed as the nation’s highest profile Latino lawmaker because of his work on immigration reform and environmental issues in Puerto Rico.

“As a U.S. Senator, he’d be able to take his fights of local Latino empowerment and immigration reform to the next level,” said Ald. Ricky Munoz, 22nd Ward.

Gutierrez won 83 percent of the vote in the November 4 election, showing no effects of a controversial but real estate deal he made several years ago that involved since convicted developer Tony Rezko.

“If you know someone that gets into trouble, all of a sudden you’re in trouble which doesn’t happen to be the case,” said Gutierrez.

Gutierrez says he will not be disappointed if the governor appoints someone else to the Senate. All he says he can do is to be ready if the phone rings.

“Everybody takes different roads to the same goal. Mine is, I’m gonna respect the governor, I’m gonna talk to him, and after we have spoken I’ll be happy to talk to you once again,” Gutierrez said.

While not divulging when his interview will happen, Gutierrez says he speaks frequently to the governor with whom he served in congress for several terms in the 1990s.

We have only mentioned the congress members who want Obama’s job. There are state elected officials and others who don’t hold public office to be interviewed by the governor.

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