Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi never let a stump speech go by without reminding the audience that, as governor, he would be able to appoint hundreds of new state officials from the “blueberry commission on up.”

That didn’t happen, but on the federal level Democratic President-elect Barack Obama, taking over after eight years of Republican George Bush, will have the authority to appoint thousands of officials to government jobs, including a number of high profile posts here in Washington state.

Speculation has already begun for many of the top posts, including U.S. Attorney, U.S. Marshall and regional directors of bodies like the Environmental Protection Agency.

Many point to John Ladenburg of Tacoma for U.S. Attorney. Ladenburg, as he often cited when he ran against Rob McKenna for attorney general, has thirsty-five years of experience as a lawyer, prosecutor and Pierce County Executive. Plus, because of term limits and a lost election this fall, Ladenburg is out of a job.

Seattle’s Bill Sherman, whose resume includes being an aide to Clinton-era Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and a deputy prosecutor in King County who lost two narrow races for King County Prosecutor and also ran in the 43rd Legislative District primary in 2006, is also on the lips of local politicos as a possible appointee.

Jenny Durkan, Gov. Chris Gregoire’s former executive counsel and longtime personal lawyer who has been involved in many of the state’s most important political court cases in the last twenty years, and who has been one of the go-to lawyers for the Democratic Party, is always in the mix for a senior post.

A name that also comes up in conversation is Kitsap County Prosecuting Attorney Russell Hauge (D-Silverdale), who has also served as the past president of the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.

Another coveted post, especially here in environmentally friendly Washington state, is the regional director of the EPA, which covers operations is Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. Environmental insiders have been saying that whoever gets this post will likely earn it on account of their climate change credentials.

Some folks are mentioning Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels for this or a similar post on the strength of the environmental policies passed in Seattle under his watch, especially on the issue of climate change. The same goes for King County Executive Ron Sims, who has been at the helm of King County for twelve years now and could be in the market for something different. Both Nickels and Sims are likely to receive Democratic primary challengers for their posts in 2009.

Environmental lawyer Rodney Brown of Seattle, president of the board of directors at the Washington environmental council and a senior partner at and co-founder of the Cascadia Law Group is also mentioned. So is Seattle’s KC Golden, the policy director of Olympia-based Climate Solutions, who has also worked on state and local climate and energy task forces for twenty years.

Snohomish County Sheriff John Lovick’s (D-Everett) name comes up as a logical choice for U.S. Marshall. Lovick served in the U.S. Coast Guard before three decades in the Washington State Patrol before being elected to the state legislature and sheriff.

Other well-documented whispers include a possible Ambassadorship to China for Gary Locke, who was the nation’s first Chinese-American governor. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Bainbridge Island) has been prominently mentioned as a possible EPA director or secretary of energy for his leadership on renewable energy issues. Jim Luce, who works for Gov. Gregoire in the state’s energy department, has also been considered as director of the Bonneville Power Administration, which runs the regions hydroelectric production.

Although many of these appointments likely will not take place until early next year, Obama’s transition team has already begun assembling his cabinet and may well be ready to pencil in appointments quite soon.