SEATTLE -- Della Newman, a Seattle realty owner who chaired George Bush's presidential campaign in Washington, confirmed Tuesday that Bush has asked her to serve as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand.
Newman, 56, who also heads the Association of Washington Business, the state's main business lobbying group, said Bush phoned her last Wednesday to ask if she would accept the job.
'I said 'yes,'' Newman said. 'I've just been waiting for an official nomination from the White House.'
The long-time Republican Party activist said she had not been told when the official nomination would be announced.
Newman said she has never been to New Zealand. She felt she was asked to fill the ambassador's post because of her party activism and because of similarities between New Zealand and the Pacific Northwest.
'New Zealand has a similar climate, they speak English and they are on the Pacific Rim,' she said.
Newman said she has been told an FBI background check for the post will not be necessary because a similar investigation was made previously when she was named by the Reagan administration to serve on the National Advisory Council for Women's Educational programs.
Newman said she met Bush in 1972, when Bush was ambassador to the United Nations. The two were seated together at a head table at a women's business group banquet in Dallas and began talking about politics.
'He asked me if I knew Dan Evans and several others, and I said, 'Oh, yes,' and things went on from there,' Newman told UPI. 'When I returned to Seattle, I told everyone that I knew he would be president some day.'
Newman became a strong Bush supporter and increasingly active in party politics. She said Tuesday that she has never been identified with any particular wing of the GOP.
Washington was one of only a handful of states Bush failed to carry in the November general election. He also lost the GOP state caucuses in March to evangelist Pat Robertson.
Newman is married to Wells McCurdy, an economic development consultant. The couple have five children and four grandchildren.
