Politico | Joe Biden picks Gina Raimondo for US commerce secretary
- The Rhode Island governor had impressed the president-elect‘s team when she was under consideration to be his running mate
- Raimondo was also in contention to run the Treasury Department and the Department of Health and Human Services
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Tyler Pager, Doug Palmer and Gavin Bade on politico.com on January 6, 2021.
US President-elect Joe Biden has selected Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo to serve as secretary of commerce, according to two people familiar with the decision.
Raimondo, who impressed the Biden team when she was considered to be Biden’s running mate, was also in contention to run the Treasury Department and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Earlier in December, Raimondo publicly pulled her name out of the running for HHS secretary after people close to Biden told her the job was hers if she wanted it. At the time, she said she would stay focused on Rhode Island.
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Raimondo is a former venture capitalist who worked at a fund backed by Bain Capital. She also started her own venture firm in Rhode Island, where she worked before being elected general treasurer of Rhode Island in 2011.
Raimondo was elected governor of Rhode Island in 2014 and served as head of the Democratic Governors Association in 2019. During the presidential primary, she threw her support behind former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, serving as national co-chair for the well funded but ill-fated campaign.