Trump nominates former SC official for Belize ambassadorship

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — President Donald Trump has nominated South Carolina’s former lieutenant governor to be the next ambassador to Belize.

News outlets report the White House announced Friday that Andre Bauer’s nomination still needs to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before it’s official.

The ambassador’s post has been vacant since the term of the previous ambassador, Carlos Moreno, concluded with the end of the Obama administration. Bauer served as former Gov. Mark Sanford’s second-in-command from 2003 to 2011.

He also ran unsuccessful bids for the Republican nomination for governor in 2010 and for the state’s 7th Congressional District in 2012.