Talk Heats Up Around Potential Secretary of Labor Candidates

A handful of candidates are reportedly under consideration for appointment as the next Secretary of Labor. Those candidates include a former Washington heavyweight, a community organizer and labor advocate, the current Governors of Michigan and Kansas, and the Mayor of Los Angeles. Their backgrounds and potential chances for the nomination are laid out below.

David Bonior – Bonior (BON-yer), the former campaign manager for John Edwards' presidential campaign in 2007-2008, and a 26-year veteran of the U.S. House of Representatives, D-Mich., is a current member of President-Elect Obama’s economic transition team and perhaps the most high profile candidate for the Secretary of Labor post. But Bonior's nomination, the strengths and weaknesses described by The New York Times, is not without opposition. Bonior was a vocal opponent of NAFTA and he has been a champion of the Employee Free Choice Act. These positions have earned him little support from the business world. Bonior's issue specific voting record can be found at OnTheIssues.org.

Mary Beth Maxwell – the founding executive director of American Rights At Work, a pro-union website, and a community organizer and labor leader, Maxwell is receiving support from large labor unions, including the AFL-CIO and Change to Win. Maxwell's odds of becoming the Secretary of Labor, reported on by The Wall Street Journal received a big boost in the form of an endorsement from fellow candidate, David Bonior, who The Wall Street Journal reports sees Maxwell as a representative for the new generation. Maxwell is also openly gay, and would further diversify President-Elect Obama's cabinet.

Jennifer Granholm – the 49-year-old current Governor of Michigan, and a Harvard Law School grad, is on a short list of those being vetted for the Secretary of Labor position. Able to gain large amounts of popular support in a state hard hit by labor woes, Granholm, The Washington Post reports, has the star power and professional resume to justify a cabinet appointment. Granholm is currently an economic adviser for the President-Elect's transition team.

Antonio R. Villaraigosa – the first Hispanic mayor of Los Angeles in modern times, and another economic adviser to President-Elect Obama's transition team, is well known in national politics and has demonstrated an ability to work through adverse situations. However, he recently went through a personal controversy involving a collapsing marriage and an affair with a television reporter, which garnered intense media scrutiny. Nevertheless, The Washington Post reports that Villaraigosa is a Secretary of Labor candidate.

Kathleen Sebelius – mentioned as a finalist for the vice-presidential nomination, which went to Joe Biden instead, Sebelius, the popular Governor of Kansas has been mentioned as the potential choice for any one of several Obama cabinet positions, including the Secretary of Labor. However, The Kansas City Star reports that Sebelius has withdrawn her name from consideration for any of the cabinet posts. Sebelius released a four-sentence statement citing the problem facing Kansas' economy as the cause for her withdrawal. But until the nomination is formally announced, nothing is certain.

Other candidates who received early attention as possible selections, but have since fallen off, include: Andy Stern, President of the Service Employees International Union; Richard Gephardt, the former House of Representative Majority Leader; and George Miller, the California Democrat who leads the House Education and Labor Committee.