Source:
Yahoo News7 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - President Bush on Wednesday will nominate Edward Schafer, a former two-term Republican governor from North Dakota, to be his next secretary of agriculture, a senior administration official said.
Schafer, who chose not to run again in North Dakota in 2000, will replace Mike Johanns, who resigned as U.S. agriculture secretary last month to launch a bid for the Nebraska Senate seat being vacated by Republican Chuck Hagel at the end of next year.
Bush will make the announcement at 2 p.m. EDT in the Roosevelt Room.
Schafer, the grandson of Danish immigrants who farmed throughout their lives, gained extensive agricultural experience while serving as governor, from 1992 to 2000, of North Dakota where nearly 25 percent of its residents work as farmers and ranchers or are employed in farm-related jobs.
He was elected to his first term by a margin of 17 percent and was re-elected to a second term four years later by a margin of 32 percent, becoming the first Republican elected to a second term in the state's history.
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