WASHINGTON — In choosing Democrat Norman Y. Mineta to be his secretary of transportation Tuesday, President-elect Bush passed over Elaine Chao.

        Chao, the wife of Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, was a finalist for the job, according to Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., an adviser to the Bush transition team.

Chao

        “As a longtime supporter of President-elect Bush, I was honored to be consid ered as a possible nominee to his cabinet,” Ms. Chao said in a statement.

        She praised Mr. Mineta, the current Commerce Department secretary, for his “long and distinguished career as a public servant.”

        Juleanna Glover Weiss, a spokeswoman for the Bush transition team, declined to say whether Ms. Chao would be considered for another job in the Bush administration.

        Ms. Chao, 47, is a distinguished fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington-based think tank.

        She was second in charge at the Transportation Department during Mr. Bush's father's administration. Aviation and auto industry officials spoke highly of her in the days leading up to Tuesday's announcement.

        Janet Mullins Grissom, a lobbyist for Ford Motor Co. and a former chief of staff to Mr. McConnell, praised Ms. Chao's qualifications.

        “What you have here is someone who has a wide variety of experiences, managing as well as political,” Ms. Grissom said.

        President Bush plucked Ms. Chao from the Transportation Department in 1991 to make her director of the Peace Corps.

        After leaving government, she went on to take the reigns of United Way of America from 1992 to 1996. She is credited with helping to turn around the national charity after her predecessor, William Aramony, was ousted amid charges of financial mismanagement and lavish spending.

        Like her husband, Ms. Chao has a zest for politics. Most recently, she helped lead a Republican effort to get out the GOP vote in her adopted home state of Kentucky, which backed Bush over Vice President Al Gore.

        Ms. Chao came to the United States from Taiwan with her family when she was 8 years old. They settled in New York, where she was raised.

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