WASHINGTON -- A nearly yearlong odyssey from when his name was first floated for the post ended Thursday night for David J. Hickton when the U.S. Senate confirmed him as the U.S. Attorney for Western Pennsylvania.

After earning the support of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday morning in a voice vote, Mr. Hickton was confirmed along with dozens of other other Obama administration nominees by unanimous consent just before the Senate recessed.

Mr. Hickton, 54, of Thornburg, was submitted to President Barack Obama as a candidate for the post late last year by Pennsylvania Sens. Arlen Specter and Bob Casey. The White House took several months to check his background before Mr. Obama nominated him in May for a four-year term to succeed Mary Beth Buchanan.

Ms. Buchanan resigned in November to mount an unsuccessful run for Congress in Rep. Jason Altmire's district, losing a Republican primary race to Keith Rothfus. Robert S. Cessar has served as acting U.S. attorney since November.

Mr. Hickton was vetted by the Judiciary Committee's Republican staff, and the nomination proved uncontroversial. He was approved in a voice vote Thursday morning along with 12 other nominees. Mr. Hickton did not attend the vote.

A University of Pittsburgh law graduate, he is a founder of the Pittsburgh law firm Burns, White & Hickton, which specializes in transportation, litigation and business law, and he has been active for years in Democratic politics.

Mr. Hickton represented former Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy in a federal investigation regarding his handling of a contract with city firefighters in 2001. Mr. Murphy designed a contract that prompted the firefighters union to change its mayoral endorsement from then-City Council President Bob O'Connor to himself.

Ms. Buchanan never filed charges against Mr. Murphy, but she didn't formally clear him either. Instead, he agreed to cooperate with authorities in identifying flaws in Pennsylvania's collective bargaining law.

Mr. Hickton's father, Jack, served as Allegheny County district attorney for 18 months from 1974 to 1976.

As U.S. attorney, Mr. Hickton would be the highest-ranking federal law enforcement officer in Western Pennsylvania. The office prosecutes federal crimes, oversees civil rights investigations and prosecutes and defends the United States in cases in which it is named as a party for 25 counties stretching from Erie to Johnstown.

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