Meet the New House Democrats: They Could Be a Management Headache

WASHINGTON — There is a former NFL linebacker, a climate scientist and a rapper with a Harvard law degree. There is one immigrant from Somalia and another from Ecuador. There are two former CIA officials, an Air Force veteran, a former Navy helicopter pilot, and a retired Marine commander — all of them women. Not to mention a pediatrician and a human rights advocate.

When these and other newly elected House Democrats arrive in Washington for their orientation this week, they will reflect the most diverse, most female freshman class in history — a group of political neophytes, savvy veterans of the Obama and Clinton administrations, as well as the first Muslim women and Native American women ever elected to Congress.

The class is ideologically diverse as well, spanning the philosophical spectrum from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described democratic socialist from New York, to Joe Cunningham, a South Carolina lawyer who won a stunning upset victory in the Charleston suburbs, on the strength of his promises to put “country over party” and work with President Donald Trump. That could prove a management headache for Democratic leaders.

“The new Democratic leadership and the entire Democratic caucus will really have to pull together to insure a unified legislative agenda that appeals to constituents in Brooklyn, New York, while appealing to constituents in Brooklyn, Iowa,” said Steve Israel, a former congressman from New York and one-time chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “The way to keep these new Democrats in 2020 is not to do things that force their voters to reconsider and that won’t be easy.”

The road to the Democrats’ victory ran through districts in states like Texas and Kansas, Iowa and Michigan, where moderate and independent-minded voters turned away from Trump, often knocking out veteran incumbents. The blue wave even reached Oklahoma, where Kendra Horn ousted Rep. Steve Russell in a district considered safe for Republicans. That race was one of the biggest surprises of election night.

So for all the talk of the rise of the progressive left — embodied by the rock star of the class, Ocasio-Cortez — the bulk of the newcomers might better be described as pragmatists.

All told, the Democratic freshman class numbers more than 50; there are still some races yet to be decided. Nearly two dozen had the endorsement of the New Democrat Coalition, a centrist group that describes its members as “committed to pro-economic growth, pro-innovation and fiscally responsible policies.” These members especially will face tough choices over whether to resist Trump, cooperate with him — or do both.

“It’s both,” said Lori Trahan, a former congressional chief of staff who defeated a Republican businessman in Massachusetts. “What this election said to me is that the country wants checks and balances on this administration; they want Congress to act as a coequal branch of government and to hold this administration accountable when necessary.”

One of the most striking features of the new class is its litany of firsts.

Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan are the first Muslim-American women ever elected to Congress; Omar, a state legislator, will also become the first Somali-American in the House. Like her predecessor, Keith Ellison, she has said she would likely be sworn in using a Quran.

In the suburbs of Kansas City, Sharice Davids, an openly gay woman and member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, toppled a Republican incumbent, Rep. Kevin Yoder, to become one of the first Native American women to serve in Congress. The other is Deb Haaland of New Mexico, who will replace Michelle Lujan Grisham, just elected governor.

“We have a record-breaking number of women of color going to Congress who will be sworn in in January,” Haaland said in an interview. “Considering the fact that Native women have never had a voice in Congress for 240 years, it’s significant that we have an opportunity to bring that voice to the table.”

Among those women of color is Ayanna Pressley, who in 2009 became the first black woman elected to the Boston City Council. Then she stunned the Massachusetts political establishment when she beat Rep. Michael Capuano in a primary earlier this year. Known for her fiery speaking style, she is, like Ocasio-Cortez, a darling of the progressive left, and she said in an interview that she is eager to bring her voice — and her passion for issues like overhauling the criminal justice system — to a Capitol that is still an overwhelmingly white male world.

“Washington is only a microcosm of society at large, and navigating these waters and terrain is not completely alien to me,” she said. “The corridors of power and most decision-making tables are dominated by white men. That was true when I was elected to the Boston City Council and they enthusiastically embraced my agenda.”

Though no one is keeping records, Antonio Delgado of New York, a former Rhodes Scholar and Harvard-educated lawyer, is almost certainly the first rapper ever elected to Congress. His rap career was brief, but it did provide fodder for attacks from Republicans.

There are at least four lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the new Democratic class; they include Angie Craig, a health care human resources official who ousted a Republican incumbent in the suburbs of St. Paul, Minnesota. She said she takes pride in being another first: the first lesbian mother in Congress. She and her wife have four sons.

“I think the thing that impresses me most about the voters of this district,” she said in an interview, “is that it didn’t matter.”

And Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who defeated Rep. Carlos Curbelo for a seat representing South Florida, celebrated in a phone interview when reminded that she is the first Ecuadorean-American representative in Congress, according to House historian records. “I’m making history, yay!” she exclaimed.

Many of the newcomers have deep Washington experience. Perhaps the most prominent among them is Donna Shalala of Florida, who was health and human services secretary to President Bill Clinton, and who, at 77, is probably the oldest freshman. (The youngest is Ocasio-Cortez, who at 29 is also the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.)

The Washington veterans include the former NFL linebacker Colin Allred of Texas, a civil rights lawyer who also worked in President Barack Obama’s Department of Housing and Urban Development; Elissa Slotkin, a former CIA officer who served in Obama’s Defense Department; and Andy Kim of New Jersey, another Obama administration alumnus who served as a civilian adviser in Iraq.

They will be joined by Tom Malinowski of New Jersey, a Polish-born diplomat and human rights advocate who served in the Obama State Department. (“He stood up to dictators. He’ll stand up for you,” his campaign website proclaims.) Like so many first-time candidates who ran this year, he was motivated to run by the election of Trump. He also has a leg up on other freshman: He already owns a house in Washington.

“I think you’re going to see the House, in particular, reasserting itself because we have this infusion of experienced people, including many military veterans and those like me who served in a civilian capacity,” he said in an interview. His advice to his new colleagues: “I think we need to be calm and not panic.”

There were so many female veterans and national security experts running as Democrats this year that they formed a text message group to keep in touch while they were campaigning, said Chrissy Houlahan, an engineer and Air Force veteran who just won a House seat in a district north and west of Philadelphia.

“We realized we have a lot in common, and we were running for the same reason, we were answering a new call to serve,” she said.

They include Slotkin of Michigan and another former CIA official, Abigail Spanberger, who unseated Rep. Dave Brat in Virginia; Elaine Luria, a retired Navy commander in Virginia; and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, a former federal prosecutor and retired Navy pilot who was making her first run for public office.

In her victory speech on election night, Sherrill recounted how she asked her daughter Maggie, the oldest of her four young children, if she was “OK with this.” Her daughter, she said, came back with a question of her own: “If you don’t run, who will?”