WASHINGTON (AP) - Senator Byron Dorgan says he'll support the nomination of former North Dakota Governor Ed Schafer to be secretary of agriculture.

Schafer, a Republican, unsuccessfully challenged then-U.S. Representative Dorgan in 1990, two years before he was elected governor. Dorgan is a Democrat.

Dorgan said after a meeting with Schafer that it's an honor for a North Dakotan to be nominated for the post, and he would work with him through the nomination process.

North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad, Schafer's former brother-in-law, has also said he intends to support Schafer's nomination.

Schafer is in Washington, D.C., meeting with senators in preparation for his confirmation hearing. The Senate Agriculture Committee is overseeing negotiations on a five-year farm bill and has not set a date for that hearing.