Commerce Nominee Reports Seven-figure Income

By SHARON THEIMER

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's nominee for Commerce secretary will take a pay cut should he get the job. Gary Locke's income topped $1 million over the past year, according to a report released Thursday.

The former Washington governor earned $533,000 in salary from the Seattle law firm Davis Wright Tremaine from January 2008 to the present and a state pension of about $121,000. He also received $101,000 in director's fees from Seattle-based Safeco Insurance Co., $467,000 from deferred Safeco fees and a stock cashout, $15,000 in director's fees from Key Technology in Walla Walla, Wash., and $19,250 from consulting work for Waggener Edstrom, a Bellevue, Wash., public relations firm.

Cabinet secretaries earn $196,700 a year. The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved Locke's nomination on Thursday.

Locke listed bank accounts and other assets worth a total of about $1.5 million to $5.4 million. Cabinet nominees are allowed to give assets' values in broad ranges rather than specific figures.

His major holdings include $100,000 to $250,000 in stock in Microsoft, the software giant that was also among Locke's legal clients. He holds $50,000 to $100,000 each in the Costco Wholesale Group and Esterline Technologies Corp., and $15,000 to $50,000 in coffee outlet Starbucks.