Obama Cabinet Pick Gives Arizona Republican Governor
President-elect Barack Obama's announcement Monday that Gov. Janet Napolitano is his choice to head the Department of Homeland Security means a Republican will move into the governor's office.
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Arizona does not have a lieutenant general, so the Democratic governor's midterm departure — if she is confirmed as secretary of homeland security — means she will be succeeded by Secretary of State Jan Brewer, a Republican in a state that leans toward the GOP.
"It is difficult to leave one job for another but one must go where one can best serve," Napolitano said during a news conference in Chicago with Obama and other newly announced members of his national security team.
The turnover won't occur before early January at the earliest because Napolitano doesn't plan to step down as governor until the U.S. Senate confirms her appointment, Napolitano spokeswoman Jeanine L'Ecuyer said.
A Senate vote can't happen until after Obama is inaugurated Jan. 20. A representative of Brewer did not respond to a call seeking comment Monday morning.
Obama also tapped Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as his nominee for secretary of state. New York Gov. David Paterson has not named a successor for the state's junior senator. He says he will consult with former senators and people around the state before making his decision.
Napolitano, 51, would be departing after six years as Arizona governor and midway through her second four-year term. She previously served as Arizona attorney general and U.S. attorney for Arizona.
Brewer, 64, is a veteran public officeholder, with more than two decades as a legislator, a Maricopa County supervisor and secretary of state.
Brewer had a reputation as a fiscal hard-liner and conservative on social issues while a legislator in the 1980s and 1990s, so her taking over the governorship would mean a new approach from Napolitano's direction.
Napolitano has pushed for more spending for education and social services. Republican legislators charge that she rammed through spending that the state cannot afford.
Napolitano also has been a liberal on some social issues, including abortion rights, and pushed for strong state action on environmental initiatives.
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