Few women among possible LaHood replacements

{mosads}The White House has said it is too early to judge the diversity in Obama’s second-term Cabinet, and that women or minorities could be named to lead several agencies.

LaHood was not included in a recent White House list of Cabinet members who are definitely staying on their jobs. He has said as far back as October 2011 that he would retire at the end of Obama’s first term, though he has since backed off those statements.

The lack of certainty about LaHood’s future has not stopped speculation in Washington about who might replace him.

The names being bandied about the most are men and include Democrats like Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and former House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.).

The two women most commonly mentioned are a pair of female governors, one outgoing and one former.

Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire (D) is leaving office after two terms. She is a former chairwoman of the National Governors Association and her state is home to one of the biggest aviation companies in the world, Boeing. Gregoire is also being mentioned as a possible pick for the Environmental Protection Agency.

Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) is a former two-term governor of the state that is home to the American auto industry. Her Current TV show is ending soon, and she gave a fiery speech at the Democratic convention touting the bailout of the auto industry that has been viewed 86,000 times on YouTube.

The Transportation secretary position has often been a place where presidents tap members of the opposite party to show their bipartisanship. LaHood was a Republican member of the House from Illinois for 14 years before he was picked by Obama in 2009.

Another woman named as a possible Transportation secretary by some sources is Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), who left Congress this month after serving 20 years in the Senate and would give Obama a chance to add a Republican to his Cabinet.

Hutchison is a former ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and was a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Transportation, Housing and Urban Development subcommittee. She pushed successfully for the passage of more stringent bus safety regulations, including requiring seatbelts and stronger windows, after a string of deadly crashes. 

Former Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio) is another possibility.

LaTourette was one of Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) closest lieutenants, but he was also a centrist who bucked conservative members of his party on fights over Amtrak funding and road and transit appropriations. LaTourette was a member of the House Appropriations Committee’s Transportation, Housing and Urban Development subcommittee.

Both Hutchison and LaTourette were considered to be potential Transportation secretary picks for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney if he had won the 2012 election.