A coalition of progressive organizations and activists is running an outside campaign to elect California Rep. Barbara Lee as chair of the House Democratic Caucus ahead of the Wednesday vote. The campaign represents something of a departure for progressive organizations, which tend not to participate in a highly organized way in internal House Democratic elections.
No similar progressive campaign is being run for any other position, including speaker, majority leader, majority whip, or chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, a powerful position with the ability to allocate resources in primaries and general elections around the country.
The effort also serves as a dry run for what could be a broader campaign in two years to install progressives throughout House leadership, flexing muscles that have long laid dormant.
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For months, the race to replace Crowley was between Lee and California Rep. Linda Sánchez, who beat Lee in a narrow election for the No. 5 position two years ago. But shortly after Election Day, Sánchez withdrew her bid citing “an unexpected family matter,” which turned out to be her husband’s indictment on federal criminal charges.
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New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a young lawmaker seen as one of the party’s rising stars, [has] jumped into the race [...] . Both Jeffries and Lee are members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus, but Jeffries is viewed as the more moderate of the two. Jeffries is regarded as a close ally of Pelosi’s as well.
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Jeffries’s bid for the position departs from the unwritten norm that younger members wait their turn for their time in leadership roles, and if he succeeds, it could open the door in 2020 for other relatively new members of the caucus, such as Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin or Pramila Jayapal of Washington, who head the Progressive Caucus but are known to harbor higher ambitions.
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With the top three leadership roles likely to remain in the hands of the same septuagenarian trio of Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and James Clyburn, Jeffries is running from the angle of generational change. Meanwhile, Lee’s supporters argue that her time as chair of the Black Caucus, co-chair of the Progressive Caucus, and her track record stretching from when she was an activist in the 1960s make her the right choice for this political moment. The contest is expected to be tight.
The Intercept
