I don't want to be commerce secretary: Penny Pritzker
WASHINGTON -- Penny Pritzker, the Chicago billionaire who played a key role in President-elect Barack Obama's political career, said Thursday she does not want to be considered for commerce secretary, issuing a statement after her name had been mentioned for the Cabinet spot.
Pritzker, a member of the Obama transition team, chaired his presidential finance committee and helped raise money for earlier campaigns.
(Sun-Times file)
Money Pritzker helped raise from major donors in the first quarter of the campaign in 2007 was crucial to establishing Obama as a viable presidential candidate.
After her name surfaced Thursday, Pritzker said in an e-mail, "Speculation has grown that I am a candidate for Secretary of Commerce. I am not. I think I can best serve our nation in my current capacity: building businesses, creating jobs and working to strengthen our economy. It has been my great privilege to serve in the Obama campaign. I look forward to helping our new president in every way possible and am excited about the future under his leadership."
The position would have required Senate confirmation. A potential controversy she may have faced would have the 2001 failure of the Superior Bank in Hinsdale, which her family controlled. Pritzker was the former chairwoman of the bank.
A member of one of the nation's wealthiest families, which controls the Hyatt hotel chain, Pritzker is chairwoman of TransUnion, the credit company; chairwoman of the Parking Spot (whose CEO, Marty Nesbit was the treasurer of Obama's presidential campaign), and chairwoman of Classic Residence by Hyatt.