Wow! Breaking news out of Washington... DC, that is. We may have a third Asian American Cabinet Secretary in the Obama Administration as Former Washington Governor Gary Locke's name is being floated as Commerce Secretary. According to various sources, including this bit from Politico:

Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-Mich.) tells POLITICO that she heard former Gov. Gary Locke (D-Wash.) floated as a nominee for Commerce Secretary in a one-on-one conversation she had at the NGA meeting with another governor

Locke would be the third nomination for this position after the withdrawals of Bill Richardson and Judd Gregg.

Here are a couple of more links: From the Washington Post: Former Wash. Gov. Gary Locke Likely To Commerce From USA Today: AP: Former Washington governor Gary Locke likely pick for Commerce Frankly, I am a little surprised at this nomination. Locke is clearly a strong candidate and has probably already been vetted, but the Administration was under some pressure to name more women and the first gay or lesbian Cabinet Secretary. With that said, it's great to have another strong advocate for the AAPI community in the Administration. update: More reports are coming in regarding Locke. From MSNBC: "Official: Locke likely to head Commerce" From the LA Times: "Gary Locke may be new Commerce pick" From CNN: "Obama likely to tap Locke for commerce, sources say" Sort of a coincidence that when Bush-nominee Linda Chavez withdrew her nomination, Bush replaced her with another Chinese American, Elaine Chao. Of course, Gary and Elaine have very little in common beyond that.