Congressman John McHugh will become the latest New Yorker to join the Obama administration, after being nominated for secretary of the Army today. Obama is once again strengthening his bi-partisan bona fides with the pick because McHugh, who has represented his upstate congressional district for nine terms, is a Republican though records show that he only votes with his party 85.6 percent of the time in Congress, a less reliable GOP vote than all but a dozen of his colleagues. If confirmed, his departure would create the need for another fun-filled special election in the 23rd congressional district, which McHugh won easily last year but which Obama also carried by five points. [Caucus/NYT]
