Bush picks Herbold as ambassador

OLYMPIA – Pat Herbold, a high-energy former King County Republican chairwoman who toyed with running for public office, was nominated Tuesday by President Bush as ambassador to Singapore.

Herbold, 64, and her husband, retired Microsoft millionaire Bob Herbold, 62, have been early, passionate backers of the president since his days as Texas governor. Bob Herbold was a co-host of a glittering fund-raising dinner in Seattle last year that collected more than $100,000 for Bush’s re-election campaign.

The White House announced Pat Herbold’s nomination. She will require Senate confirmation.

The outgoing ambassador, Frank Lavin, was in Washington, D.C., for a meeting with the president and Singapore’s prime minister, but Herbold did not attend the Oval Office ceremony. In a transcript posted on the White House Web site, the president described Singapore as an important ally and business partner.

Herbold said in a brief telephone interview that she couldn’t say anything about the nomination or her goals pending the confirmation hearing.

State Republican Chairman Chris Vance was ecstatic.

“She is incredibly bright, strong on issues and she will be great in this post,” he said in an interview. “This is an incredibly capable person being sent to a very important country, not someone just being rewarded for being a big donor.”

The Herbolds have been in King County for more than 10 years. Bob Herbold is a former chief operating officer for Microsoft and sits on a number of boards. Pat Herbold toyed with running for the open 8th District congressional seat last year and also was mentioned for the U.S. Senate.

The Herbolds are well-known in national party circles, but Vance said Pat Herbold cemented her party credentials by taking over an ailing party structure in the state’s largest county, King, where nearly a third of the voters live. She served from December 2002 through the 2004 elections.

Pat Herbold has a law degree and practiced in Cincinnati and was legal counsel and vice president for Bank One in Dayton, Ohio. She served as mayor of Montgomery, Ohio.

If confirmed, she will become the third Washington resident to serve as an ambassador in recent years. Former House Speaker Tom Foley, a Spokane Democrat, had a prestigious posting to Tokyo and Republican business leader Della Newman served in New Zealand.