Essential Estrogen

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver will be appointing Lt. Gov. Patty Judge to be his top advisor on homeland security.

As a part of that appointment, she will lead a team of top advisors including Iowa National Guard Gen. Ron Dardis, Dept. of Public Safety Commissioner Gene Meyer and Division of Homeland Security Administrator David Miller. Judge will take the lead role from Dardis, who has led the effort since July 2005.

In a news conference this morning, Culver said Iowa needs to be "prepared to manage the unimaginable." He went on to add that Judge has been on the front lines of doing just that. While serving two terms as Iowa's Secretary of Agriculture, she led efforts to create the Center for Agriculture Security and served on national groups exploring strategies for safeguarding the nation's food supply. She also was among a key group of Iowa agency administrators who took part in preparedness drills and briefings.

She will now be in charge of communicating with federal and state agencies, coordinating response plans and overseeing budget issues. Dardis was in attendance at the morning news conference and added that lieutenant governors in three other states fill similar roles.

Perhaps the most unexpected response to the news came from Senate Minority Leader Mary Lundby who not only welcomed Judge's appointment but stated she believed the Lieutenant Governor would "do a wonderful job."

Kudos to Culver and Lundby for seeing Judge's expertise in this issue and big kudos to Judge for being the first woman in Iowa to fulfill such an important role.