Minneapolis lawyer nominated to be ambassador to Norway

MINNEAPOLIS -- Minneapolis lawyer Sam Heins, a major donor to President Barack Obama in his 2012 re-election campaign, has been nominated to serve as ambassador to Norway.
Heins and his wife, Stacey, were also major Obama fundraisers.
The couple raised more than $1 million for Obama in his last campaign and both also gave the maximum $5,000 individually.
Members of the region’s Washington delegation objected to Obama’s previous ambassadorship nominee -- George Tsunis, also a mega-donor to Obama and other Democrats. He had never traveled to Norway and botched answers to questions about the country at a Senate hearing late last year. The Long Island hotelier then withdrew his nomination after a Midwest-led campaign began to have the region’s Democrats, including Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. and Al Franken, D-Minn., oppose his nomination.