Richard C. Houseworth, Arizona banking superintendent, has won the support of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-La., for a vacant seat on the FDIC board of directors that by law must go to a Republican.

Houseworth is being promoted by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors for the post, and the Lott endorsement is significant. The Ohio Bankers Association has been lobbying strongly in recent weeks for John Deal, an enforcement lawyer in Columbus, and had won the support of Ohio’s two Republican senators for him. Some Republicans had even said that former majority leader Bob Dole had put in a good word for Deal.

But the CSBS said that Lott had forwarded his recommendation to President Obama in support of Houseworth.

Houseworth has been Arizona banking commissioner since 1993. He has spent almost 40 years in banking, including 33 years with Arizona Bank, which was acquired by Bank of America. Houseworth was appointed director of the Export-Import Bank in 1988, and served as U.S. alternative executive director at the Inter-American Bank from 1991 to 1993.

If nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, Houseworth would take the seat of Joseph Neely, who recently retired from the FDIC board. Neely is the former banking commissioner of Mississippi.

There is expected to be another Republican open seat on the fivemember FDIC board with the expected retirement of Skip Hove.