Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., center, thanks House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., right, after she announced he will take over as head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., left, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Monday. (The Associated Press)
U.S. Rep. Jared Polis
WASHINGTON — Though he made , U.S. Rep. Jared Polis was not selected by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to lead the fundraising shop for House Democrats for the 2016 election.
Instead, U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico will chair the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Polis, a Boulder Democrat who spoke with Pelosi about the gig as late as last Thursday, called the pick an “excellent choice” and expressed some relief at being passed over for the top fundraising position.
“Congressman Ben Ray Luján is an excellent choice for the DCCC chair,” Polis said in a statement. “My top priority since being elected to Congress has always been representing the people of Colorado and I’m relieved not to have to balance that with a partisan office.”
With House Democrats unlikely to shift many of their top leadership positions in the next Congress, however, leading the DCCC was seen as one of the few ways for ambitious politicians in that party to move up in the ranks.
And though he said he was “relieved” at not getting it, Polis had taken steps in recent months to put himself in the running for the chairmanship. He raised a boatload of cash for other Democrats — about $470,000 as of mid-October — and supports U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo of California to become the top Democrat on the House energy and commerce committee.
Pelosi has publicly backed Eshoo for the position ahead of an upcoming caucus-wide vote — though Eshoo is not next in line for seniority for the position — and so support for Eshoo was seen as a critical step for Democrats seeking to lead the DCCC.
