The news that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is leaving his post spurred Washington’s favorite parlor game: Who will be his replacement?

We’ll add to that an extra question: Will that person be an Ohioan?

Among the names being bandied about by the Great Mentioner – that invisible Washington, D.C., force that speculates on cabinet selections and the like – are former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and former U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette.

The former, who was mentioned in CNN and by the Chicago Tribune, helped deliver Ohio for President Obama in last fall’s election. The latter, a Republican from northern Ohio, spent years on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee before moving to the House Appropriations Committee. LaTourette retired from Congress at the end of this year. Governing Magazine listed him among the possibilities.

Strickland did not return a call seeking comment, but LaTourette, who recently joined McDonalds Hopkins LLC, a Cleveland-based advocacy firm, said it would be a “huge honor” to be picked but that the White House has not contacted him about the possibility.

He said because he just started his new job, if he were picked, he’d have to have a “very, very long conversation” with his new employer, which recently opened up a D.C. office, where LaTourette and his wife, Jennifer are based.

The White House says it doesn’t comment on timing for new appointments, nor does it speculate on who might be picked. The only other Ohioan currently serving in a high post in the Obama administration is Richard Cordray, who was recently re-nominated to his post as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.