Ruth Harkin — the wife of Iowa Senator Tom Harkin — was at the statehouse today (Wednesday) for a kind of public job interview. Ruth Harkin has been nominated by Governor Vilsack to be a member of the Board of Regents, the panel that governs Iowa, Iowa State and U-N-I. She faced polite rather than pointed questions from members of the Senate Education Committee. Harkin began by telling the panel she will not bill the state to fly back from D.C. for Board meetings. She also stressed her Iowa ties. “I do want to give service back to Iowa. Iowa is my adopted state. I was married here, a child (was) born here. I was elected to office here,” Harkin says. “All the important events in my life happened in Iowa.” Harkin served as Story County Attorney in the 1970s, and worked as a business executive before her retirement last month. “Obviously, I would expect to bring some of my management and business experience to play in my service on the board,” Harkin says. But can Harkin, the wife of a democratic United States Senator, win support from enough republicans in the Iowa Senate to get confirmed? Key republicans say she can. Senator Jeff Angelo, a republican from Creston, says Mrs. Harkin addressed the concerns of Senators. “She basically reassured us that she is an independent mind regardless of the political fortunes of her husband,” Angelo says. Angelo believe Harkin will find herself under attack from some democratic interest groups. “If you’re going to start talking about efficiencies at our major universities, and that means you’re talking about elimination of programming…the education constituency, which is a very powerful will start to bring political pressure to bear on her that I think no other Regent has to face,” Angelo says. But Senator Nancy Boettger, a republican from Harlan, says she’s uncomfortable with the idea that Harkin spends most of her time living in Washington, D.C. with her husband. “I just want to know how really how difficult it’s going to be for someone living outside the state serving on the Board of Regents,” Boettger says. “I”m not sure we’ve ever had that happen before.” Senator Paul McKinley, a republican from Chariton who is co-chair of the Senate Education Committee, says he doesn’t know whether enough Republicans will vote for Harkin to confirm her for the job. McKinley says he does not “have a clue” what republicans will do. “I am undecided. I think that there are many positive things (about Harkin),” McKinley says. “I think there are issues I want to sort out in my mind and reflect on what she said in the meeting today.” Senator David Mulder, a republican from Sioux Center, says he’s leaning toward a yes vote on Ruth Harkin’s confirmation. “I thought she gave very fine answers (to Senator’s questions in the hearing),” Mulder says. “I was impressed with her.”