Ray LaHood is the second Republican in the Obama Cabinet. LaHood represented the Peoria, Illinois district.
President-elect Barack Obama intends to name GOP Rep. Roy LaHood of Illinois as his transportation secretary, a Democratic official said Wednesday, adding a second Republican to his Cabinet-in-the-making.
The official disclosed the selection of LaHood after the president-elect named former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack as agriculture secretary and Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado to head the Interior Department.
LaHood, 63, is stepping down from his congressional seat after 14 years in Congress from the area around Peoria.
He has been at the forefront of efforts to make the floor of the House less partisan. Respected for his ability to preside, he was in the chair during most of President Bill Clinton's impeachment a decade ago.
LaHood is known as a moderate republican and a staunch supporter of Amtrak.
The moderate Republican has broken with his party over Amtrak funding, voting yes last summer to expand passenger rail service. In 2005, he told the Peoria Journal-Star that "we've got a good Amtrak system in Illinois and I don't think we want to destroy it by talking about privatization." In 2006, he received a 66 percent rating from the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, a major transportation construction lobby. He also voted in favor of the Saving Energy Through Public Transportation Act of 2008, a bill to promote increased public transportation use that garnered string bi-partisan support
Home Page
Share
