This would be an interesting development, as Gov. Gregoire has some Indian law experience.

From the Seattle Times:

OLYMPIA — Gov. Chris Gregoire is on the White House list to replace Elena Kagan as the solicitor general. The question is, would she take the job if it’s offered?

So far, the governor isn’t saying.

President Obama this week nominated Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Gregoire’s press office at first said she wasn’t on any list. But after the White House on Wednesday confirmed the governor was being considered, her spokesman, Cory Curtis, said: “Nobody has offered her the job yet, or even told her she’s on the shortlist.”

When asked if she’d take the job if offered, Curtis said: “She hasn’t been offered the job yet, so she can’t answer that.”

A White House official declined to disclose other names under consideration for solicitor general, who represents the U.S. government before the Supreme Court.

Gregoire has been rumored as a candidate for White House posts ever since Obama was elected. There was speculation she could be a candidate for commerce secretary (a job given to former Gov. Gary Locke) and even the U.S. Supreme Court.

Last year, amid talk she was in line for a White House job, Gregoire told reporters she ran for re-election in 2008 because she wanted to be governor: “I made it clear early on I would not accept an appointment.”

It’s not clear if her response would be different this time.

Other names are being floated for the job. CNN reported that White House lawyer Donald Verrilli and Kagan’s deputy, Neal Katyal, are in contention.

Gregoire has an extensive legal background. She got her law degree in 1977 from Gonzaga University. She worked as an attorney in the state Attorney General’s office from 1977 to 1988. And she was elected state Attorney General in 1992. She served in that role nearly 12 years before running for governor in 2004.

According to the Attorney General’s office, she personally argued three cases — on matters ranging from stream-flow requirements to the state obscenity law — before the U.S. Supreme Court during her career there. Two as attorney general and one as a deputy. She won all of them.