Biden taps two fundraisers, ex state rep as ambassadors

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that’s he’s nominating two major Democratic fundraisers and a former Georgia state lawmaker to serve as ambassadors.

Erik Ramanathan, chairman of the public health nonprofit organization Heluna Health and an LGBT activist, was tapped for Sweden; Michael Adler, a South Florida real estate executive, was nominated for Belgium; and former longtime state lawmaker Calvin Smyre was picked to serve in the Dominican Republic.

Ramanathan and Adler were bundlers for Biden’s latest presidential run and raised major contributions for former President Barack Obama. Smyre spent 47 years in the Georgia State Assembly and was chairman of the Democratic caucus within the assembly for over a decade.

Smyre was an early Biden backer in a state that he narrowly won. Biden was the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Georgia since Bill Clinton in 1992.