NH Governor Picks Republican for Senate

For once, a Senate appointment went just as planned. New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch said today that Republican J. Bonnie Newman will replace Judd Gregg in the Senate once Gregg is confirmed as commerce secretary, the Boston Globe reports. Though Lynch is a Democrat and could have given his party its coveted 60-seat majority, Gregg accepted the commerce post on the condition that Lynch name a Republican.

"In my wildest, wildest dreams it never occurred to me that we would be standing here today," said Newman, 63. She's never held elected office, but she served as an assistant commerce secretary under Ronald Reagan and worked in the elder George Bush's White House. She has pledged not to run in 2010. (More Judd Gregg stories.)