President Bush nominated Deborah Taylor Tate, a director of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority, for a Republican seat on the Federal Communications Commission, the White House announced Wednesday.

At the same time, the president nominated FCC Commissioner Michael Copps for a new five-year term in a Democratic seat at the agency.

Since summer, industry insiders have been expecting the president’s package of FCC nominees to include a nomination for Richard Russell, associate director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, for another GOP vacancy. But a nomination for Mr. Russell was not included in the latest announcements.

Earlier this week, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, denied a widespread industry rumor that he had been secretly promoting Lisa Sutherland — one of his top aides — for the seat proposed for Mr. Russell. But according to a spokeswoman for Sen. Stevens, the lawmaker is looking for a candidate to recommend, but gave no indication of who that might be.