Preseident-elect Barak Obama’s choice for Secretary of Agriculture is Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack says Associated Press. Obama will announce the nomination on Wednesday.  He aslo intends to announce his nomination of Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar as interior secretary.

Vilsack also ran for president but his campaign ended when Obama’s began.  He dropped out before the primaries began because of his inability to raise funds.  After Obama defeated Clinton in the prmiaries, Vilsack endorsed him.

He was first elected as governor of Iowa in 1998.  He has a reputation as a political centrist.  He raised Iowa’s conciousness for atlernative energy, balanced the state’s budget and resisted raising taxes.  However, he was willing to spend money on education and health.

Other nominees who were considered for the post were: Dennis Wolff, Pennsylvania agriculture secretary; Tom Buis, president of National Farmers Union; former Representative Charles Stenholm of Texas; Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota; and former Representative Jill Long Thompson of Indiana.