Obama nominates Seattle U.S. attorney

SEATTLE – President Barack Obama has nominated Jenny Durkan, a longtime friend and counselor of Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire, to be U.S. attorney in Seattle.

If confirmed by the Senate, Durkan would lead the Justice Department’s efforts in Western Washington, including prosecuting criminal and civil cases and defending federal agencies in court.

She would replace Jeff Sullivan, a Republican named to the position by the district’s federal judges after John McKay was controversially fired by the Bush administration.

“It is an incredible honor to be nominated for this office and the opportunity to serve our state and country,” she said in an e-mail.

Durkan, 50, was one of Obama’s first six U.S. attorney nominations, all announced Friday.

“I am so pleased the Obama administration also recognizes Jenny’s leadership and experience, and nominated her for this important position,” Gregoire said.

Sullivan said Friday he looks forward to working with Durkan following her confirmation. Because he was a civil rather than political appointee, he has the option of remaining in the office as an assistant U.S. attorney and intends to do so.

Durkan is a lesbian who lives in Seattle with her partner and two sons. It was not immediately known whether she would be the first openly gay U.S. attorney; the Justice Department said it does not keep track.

A graduate of Notre Dame and the University of Washington Law School, and the daughter of late state Sen. Martin Durkan, she first represented Gregoire in her campaign for attorney general in 1992. Durkan continued to provide counsel off and on through Gregoire’s election in the razor-thin 2004 governor’s race. She also was counsel to Gregoire’s re-election campaign last year.

The White House also cited Durkan’s broad experience in civil litigation and criminal defense. Former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice made her the first citizen observer of the Seattle Police Department’s firearms review board, which reviews police shootings, and she has served on a bipartisan panel that helped select nominees for federal judgeships in Western Washington.

Democratic Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell recommended Durkan for the job in February.

State Republican Party chairman Luke Esser pointed to Durkan’s past work for Gregoire in objecting to the nomination Friday.

“She is an exceedingly partisan, hard-core, liberal Democrat attorney,” Esser said, adding that she’s “a very clever lady, no doubt about it.”

“I don’t think she’s the best choice for U.S. attorney, but obviously, Barack Obama doesn’t come to me for advice.”

But others said Durkan was an excellent choice. McKay, who quit the GOP this year, and his older brother Mike McKay, who served as a Republican U.S. attorney under the first President Bush, are among several former top federal prosecutors in Seattle who have signed a letter supporting her.

Given that Obama won the election, it was obvious that the next U.S. attorney in Seattle would be a Democrat, Mike McKay said, and while Durkan has strong Democratic stripes, she also has the integrity to leave her politics at the door.

“She won’t be prosecuting anyone for political reasons, that’s for sure,” he said. “I could not think of a better Democrat to serve as U.S. attorney.”