The Hawai'i Tourism Authority will probably hire former state senator and Democratic Party Chairman Mike McCartney to replace Rex Johnson as president and CEO of the state's lead tourism agency.

A search committee has recommended McCartney, who serves as executive director of the state teachers union and recently headed PBS Hawaii, for the job that pays about $200,000.

Johnson resigned under pressure last year after the state auditor said Johnson had forwarded e-mails from his state computer that contained jokes with X-rated content. The Advertiser then reported that his e-mails also included content that was sexist and racist.

The Hawai'i Tourism Authority board paid the Mainland firm SearchWide $90,000 to conduct a search that attracted wide interest for the job.

"The committee undertook a rigorous search process and considered several well-qualified candidates," said Kelvin Bloom, HTA board chairman. "In selecting Michael, we felt that he will bring the right combination of industry knowledge, community credibility and the ability to build bridges between the many stakeholders that HTA serves."

Bloom said McCartney's "long-standing relationships with government" were seen as a plus.

The committee's recommendation will be submitted to the full board at its next meeting, on March 6.

"I am honored to be selected," McCartney said. "Helping to ensure the success of Hawai'i's leading industry is a responsibility I embrace."

Earlier this week, the board's search committee narrowed its selection to two finalists from a pool of about 200 applications.

The other finalist was former Hawaiian Airlines executive Paul Casey.

McCartney, who has held the position of HTA chairman before, was replaced on the board by Gov. Linda Lingle, who said she wanted more people with day-to-day tourism experience.

McCartney was put on the board by former Gov. Ben Cayetano, who wanted to include members who weren't from the hotel industry.

When Cayetano was governor, he said: "What has dominated the HTA over its short life has been this mentality, spawned mostly by the hotel people, that whatever is good for the hotels is good for tourism, and that's not necessarily the case because there are larger goals that we have for tourism."

McCartney is currently executive director of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, which has 13,500 members.

The HTA job is seen as key at this time because tourism — the state's No. 1 industry — is reeling from 11 months of double-digit declines in visitor arrivals. Tourism officials across the nation and world are feeling the effects of a global recession that is prompting many would-be travelers to cancel their vacations.

McCartney served in the state Legislature as a senator from Kane'ohe from 1988 through 1998. In addition to serving in the state Senate, he has held a negotiator's job with the Hawaii State Teachers Association, and was director of the state Department of Human Resources Development.

Bloom, the HTA chairman, said politics played no role in the selection process. He said the search committee's recommendation is based on criteria that include the candidate's work experience, managerial skills, government relations experience and record of community service.