Richardson withdrawal disappoints Latinos

"We are hugely disappointed. It's a stunned community out there," said Janet Murguía, president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.

"He is a very well-recognized leader not just in the Latino community but in this country and he has a long record of public service," she said.

Richardson was set to serve as the most high-profile Latino in President-elect Barack Obama's administration, and the announcement of Richardson's nomination in December drew praise from several Hispanic organizations.

Yet many Latino bloggers and activists openly grumbled that the president-elect should have given Richardson an even more prominent post in the administration, namely secretary of state.

"Secretary of commerce equals 'Where we stick Latinos to say we're diverse,' " one prominent Latino blog declared in December.