Obscure Contest? Not When House Democrats Are This Divided

WASHINGTON — Rep. Raúl Grijalva threw up his hands in exasperation. The Arizona Democrat had just emerged from the House chamber into the Speaker’s Lobby — the ornate Capitol corridor that features oil portraits of past speakers — when he was asked whom he favored in the race for the No. 4 spot in the House Democratic leadership.

“Why do you always put me on the spot?” exclaimed Grijalva, who is close to both declared candidates, Reps. Linda T. Sánchez and Barbara Lee, both of California, and was not ready to announce his choice. “For many, it’s a difficult one. Barbara Lee, she’s been a great ally to me, and Linda and I came in together in the House, and she’s been a friend this whole time.”

In ordinary circumstances, the race between Lee, Sánchez and perhaps other as-yet-undeclared candidates for the chairmanship of the Democratic caucus would amount to little more than an obscure contest for a job that nobody outside the Capitol pays much attention to. Often, House leadership contests are like student council races — a popularity contest where the candidates know every voter.

But these are not ordinary times for House Democrats, who are on the verge of both a messy struggle for control of their caucus and an election that could well give them control of the chamber. Instead of entering the election season united behind a leadership slate and a shared vision, the House Democratic caucus finds itself divided by the demands of competing generations, identities, ideologies and power bases.

The Congressional Black Caucus wants a prime seat at the table. So does the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. A new generation of young Democrats is demanding a say, but the older leadership refuses to step aside. The progressive wing of the party is a rising force, but Trump-district Democrats say they hold the key to a national majority.

The result is a kind of free-for-all, as Democrats wage behind-the-scenes vote-getting operations while jockeying for position.

In that sense, the fight for the obscure post of caucus chairman, now held by Rep. Joseph Crowley, who was defeated by an upstart progressive, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in a New York primary last month, could become a microcosm for larger struggles to come.

“I can’t keep up with the numbers of meetings I have with people who are interested in running for things,” said Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., a frequent critic of Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democrats’ longtime leader. “I just came from one right now, and it’s the second one I had today. The good thing is that people are stepping up to lead.”

It is no secret on Capitol Hill that many Democrats, particularly those who are younger and newer to the House, view the current leadership team as ossified and are yearning for generational change. The top three leaders — Pelosi, Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., and Rep. James E. Clyburn, D-S.C. — have been in place, more or less, for 15 years. Pelosi is 78, Hoyer is 79 and Clyburn is 78.

The Democrats’ leadership bench is thin. For years, potential future Democratic speakers — Rahm Emanuel, Chris Van Hollen, Steve Israel — have left the House because they saw no way to move up. That left Crowley, 56, as the heir apparent — until voters ousted him in favor of Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic socialist who is rapidly becoming a progressive celebrity.

The race between Lee and Sánchez offers a first glimpse into the tensions and fissures to come. It is also a rematch; the two women ran against each other for caucus vice chairwoman in 2016, and Lee lost by two votes.

Each has a natural base: Lee is black and a hero of the progressive left; Sánchez, who is Hispanic, is more associated with the current leadership. Both are members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, so the divide is more stylistic than ideological. (No wonder Grijalva is conflicted; he is a member of the Hispanic caucus and a chairman of the progressive caucus.) Lee, an ardent anti-war activist perhaps best known as the sole member of Congress to vote against giving President George W. Bush the authority to use force against those who plotted the 9/11 attacks, is considered the more ideologically outspoken of the two. At 72, she can hardly make an argument that she represents a younger generation, though she is a fresh face, and would be the first African-American woman to serve in the Democratic leadership if elected.

“I think what’s more important is a person’s new ideas and perspective,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who is backing Lee. “I don’t think that we should be making arguments based on ageism.”

At 49, Sánchez is relatively young — at least by House standards — and has “deep progressive values but a streak of pragmatism,” said Rep. Darren Soto, D-Fla., one of her supporters. (She also has an obvious fun streak; she dyes the tips of her hair pink and is one of just two women on the Democrats’ congressional baseball team.)She is already a member of the leadership, as the vice chairwoman of the Democratic caucus, which could actually be a strike against her.

“I don’t think that having institutional knowledge is a bad thing per se,” she said in an interview. “I’m the youngest member of leadership. I’m still in my 40s. We need diversity in our leadership that appeals to a broad base of voters, and I think I do that.”

Others may still jump into the race. Much will depend on what happens in November, when a long list of new Democrats are likely to be elected. The party has decided to hold its leadership elections on or after Dec. 5 — later than usual, which could prolong the divisive battle for control but allow new coalitions to form that would guide the party into 2019.

If Democrats do not take the majority back, “there is an entirely new leadership team — no question about it,” said Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., who is backing Sánchez for caucus chairwoman. “If we take the majority back, it’s going to be a fascinating dynamic, and I have no real way to read it.”

For her part, Pelosi insists that she is not going anywhere. “Aug. 18 of next year is the 100th anniversary of women having the right to vote,” she said in a brief hallway interview in the Capitol. (She was off by a year; the 100th anniversary is in 2020.)“At that time, we will have a hugely overwhelming record number of women in Congress, and we will have a woman speaker of the House.” Yet an increasing number of Democrats running for Congress are promising voters they will not support Pelosi for either speaker or minority leader, which complicates her chances. Moulton said Democrats would be better off heading into the elections if Pelosi made a commitment beforehand to step down.

Pelosi has dismissed Moulton as “inconsequential.”

Beyond Sánchez and Lee, other Democrats are making their intentions known — and sometimes not so coyly.

“I want to be in leadership,” declared Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., though she would not be more specific. Bustos, a centrist who beat her Republican opponent by 20 percentage points in a district won by President Donald Trump, says Democrats are going to have “change in our leadership structure” no matter which party wins the House. She wants her perspective represented.

“I want to be a piece of a very complete and effective puzzle,” she said. “It’s important to me that we’ve got somebody at the leadership table who knows how to win very tough elections.”

Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, who mounted a long-shot campaign to unseat Pelosi last year and garnered the votes of one-third of the Democratic caucus, told Politico recently that he was weighing another challenge to her. “I’m not actively pursuing it; I haven’t closed the door on it,” he said in an interview Thursday.

Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., who is running the House Democrats’ campaign arm, has told fellow Democrats that he is interested in the job of whip if the party wins back the majority. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., has made no secret of her interest in the job of whip.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., regarded as one of the Democratic Party’s rising stars, said he had been having conversations with colleagues, including his fellow New Yorkers, about “a whole host of issues,” including his own future. He has been mentioned as a possible caucus chairman — or even a possible speaker.

“I haven’t ruled anything in,” he said. “I haven’t ruled anything out.”