Republicans name convention officers

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle will gavel the quadrennial GOP convention to order as its temporary chairman, the Republican National Committee said Wednesday.

Lingle is one of a handful of national Republican leaders serving as officers of the party's 2004 convention, which begins Aug. 30 in New York City.

U.S. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert will serve as the permanent convention chairman. The RNC's Vermont committeewoman, Sara Geer, will act as convention secretary while Connecticut committeeman Charles Glazer will be sergeant at arms.

U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Norm Coleman, R-Minn., House Republican Conference Chairman Deborah Pryce of Ohio, U.S. Reps. Henry Bonilla, R-Texas, Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Jack Kingston, R-Ga., and Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele were designated the convention's deputy permanent chairmen. U.S. Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., chairman of the House Rules Committee, will be parliamentarian.

"These officers will ensure that the nomination of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney is carried out under the formal rules and traditions of the Republican Party," Republican National Chairman Ed Gillespie said.