President George W. Bush has chosen close friend and former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot to guide Republicans through next year's critical congressional and gubernatorial elections, party sources said on Tuesday.
Racicot would replace Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore as chairman of the Republican National Committee after his expected endorsement by party officials at their winter meeting in Austin, Texas in mid-January. Gilmore resigned last week, citing family reasons.
Bush could announce the selection of Racicot as early as Wednesday, the sources said.
The relationship between Racicot, 53, and Bush, dates back to the president's five-and-a-half years as governor of Texas and deepened when Bush turned to him in the legal whirlwind that followed the disputed 2000 presidential election. Bureau Report