WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats on Tuesday elected 74-year-old Rep. Gerry Connolly to lead a powerful congressional committee next year, brushing aside growing calls for a generational change in leadership ahead of a second term for Donald Trump pushed.
In a closed session, the majority of the caucus voted for Connolly to become the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, ahead of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 35, who campaigned to pass the torch to younger leaders . Connolly has been a member of the committee for 16 years and has served on the committee. The vote was 131 to 84.
“I think my colleagues measured their votes based on who has experience, who is experienced, who can be trusted, who is capable and who has a track record, and I think that came through,” Connolly said after the vote to reporters.
The Virginia Democrat won the support of a Democratic panel on Monday that makes recommendations for committee assignments. But Ocasio-Cortez and her allies had said the first vote was close enough to keep her in the race and try again at Tuesday’s full caucus meeting.
In a brief statement on social media, Ocasio-Cortez wrote: “I did my best. Sorry I couldn’t stick it out – we live to fight another day.”
Rep. Annie Kuster, the chairwoman of the New Democratic Coalition, said some of her members, who come from swing districts and tend to vote moderately, were concerned that Ocasio-Cortez would support primaries against other Democrats despite her promises not to do this in this week’s closed meeting.
“I think there are members who really want this generational change, but I think members who have only been here a few terms have given them pause,” Kuster said.
Ocasio-Cortez’s loss comes as several other younger Democrats gained committee rankings and displaced more senior members. It’s all part of a generational battle in the party that has become even more urgent after Democrats’ election defeat last month, which left Republicans in complete control of Washington in January.
“I think we’re all starting to realize that we can’t do things exactly the same way we’ve always done them here in the Democratic Party,” said Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig, who was voted top Democrat on Agriculture after beating out two other senior members for the role.
Rep. Jared Huffman, 60, who managed to unseat the 74-year-old incumbent as the top Democrat on natural resources, said his and Craig’s victories represented a “healthy” generational shift.
“But this is a team, and it’s a multi-generational team, so we’re not pushing out these other older members,” Huffman told reporters after winning. “We welcome them. They have incredible value.”
The position of ranking member on the Oversight Committee is now held by Rep. Jamie Raskin, but the Maryland Democrat gave up the position to seek another prominent post, as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. The oversight and judiciary panels are traditionally among the most prominent in Congress, meaning both positions will serve as prominent foils to Trump and the Republican majority in the House.
Connolly had previously unsuccessfully applied for the supervisory role twice. His colleagues were worried about his recent cancer diagnosis. He defended his health on Monday, according to Rep. Don Beyer, one of the Democrats who nominated him for the post.
“Gerry pointed out that there were a lot of people in the room who had survived cancer and a lot of heads were nodding,” Beyer told reporters. “His chemotherapy went really well and no surgery was necessary.”
Kuster added that Connolly was very clear and told his colleagues: “If he doesn’t have the capacity, he will resign.”
Many of Connolly’s allies, including himself, disputed that this race was a generational challenge in the Democratic Party, but pointed to who was more experienced and prepared to lead the party on some of the country’s most pressing issues.
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An earlier version of this story misstated the committee roles of Angie Craig and Jared Huffman. Craig was voted top Democrat for Agriculture. Huffman became the leading Democrat on natural resources.
