Kelly Craft, the wife of Oklahoma coal magnate Joseph Craft III received a favorable vote Thursday in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Her nomination was sent to the full senate for a vote.
Craft’s husband is president and chief executive officer of Tulsa-based Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. the third-largest coal producer in the eastern United States.
The Foreign Relations Committee voted 15-7 on Craft who has the support of Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) who encouraged the president to nominate her.
But Democrats oppose Craft because of her views on climate change. They also claimed that she spent more than half of her time as U.S. ambassador to Canada outside of the country.
But since Republicans hold a 53-seat majority in the Senate, Craft would have to lose the support of four GOP senators if she didn’t get any votes from Democrats.
Craft’s official residence is in Kentucky.