United States Representative Suzan DelBene will be the next chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), incoming caucus Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York has decided.
The DCCC, the arm of the House Democratic caucus responsible for candidate recruitment, candidate support, and electioneering operations against Republican candidates, will be focused on trying to reclaim a majority in 2024 after Republicans narrowly flipped control of the chamber in the midterms.
An indefensibly overhyped “red wave” failed to materialize, but Democrats couldn’t defend vulnerable incumbents like Tom O’Halleran of Arizona, Cindy Axne of Iowa, and Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, the latter being the most recent DCCC chair, who weathered a lot of criticism concerning strategy and tactics.
DelBene, first elected to the House ten years ago to succeed Jay Inslee (now the Governor of Washington State), represents NPI’s home congressional district, Washington’s 1st, which was recently redrawn by the 2021 Washington State Redistricting Commission to be a safe Democratic district.
Before that, it had been drawn to be a swing district, but DelBene had made it look like a blue one with a series of commanding electoral performances, including in 2014, which was a dreadful cycle for Democrats. (That year, they lost control of the Senate to Mitch McConnell and failed to retake the House.)
DelBene, who has a reputation as pragmatic and effective lawmaker and strategist, will now assume the important, weighty responsibility of crafting and implementing a strategy for reclaiming the House majority in 2024.
Jeffries couldn’t have picked anyone better for the role if you ask me.
Our team has worked with DelBene for years; she regularly speaks at NPI’s events and supports our research and advocacy. A determined advocate for policies our country needs, like the Child Tax Credit, she has served on the Ways & Means Committee since before Democrats won their last majority in 2018.
DelBene is thoughtful, approachable, exercises good judgment, and has a track record of getting results. If anyone can build a better DCCC, it’s Suzan.
Hopefully, she’ll act quickly to put an end to the absolutely nauseating doom and gloom emails that the DCCC regularly sends out to its supporter list, which have needlessly alienated donors and hurt the DCCC’s reputation.
Her work with Representative-elect Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of southwest Washington — who flipped a Republican seat blue right here in the Pacific Northwest — helped convince Jeffries that she should be the next DCCC chair.
DelBene believed in Gluesenkamp Perez, considered the district to be flippable, and worked to secure resources for her candidacy, as you can see from the photo below taken back in October at a house party for Gluesenkamp Perez.
Others under consideration included Representatives Ami Bera and Tony Cárdenas. The pick was Jeffries’ to make after the caucus voted to make the job an appointed rather than elected one. His decision was announced today.
“Suzan is a battle-tested, former Frontline member who brings to the DCCC role a sharp political instinct, proven fundraising ability as well as serious management and operational experience inside and outside government,” said Jeffries.
“In the last decade, Representative DelBene won a tough seat as a Red-to-Blue candidate, held a tough seat as a Frontline candidate and then put that tough seat out of reach. Suzan has also recently served in key DCCC leadership roles, including as Finance Co-Chair in 2018 when we successfully reclaimed the House Majority and Frontline Co-Chair in 2020 when we successfully defended it.”
Jeffries’ statement went on to explicitly cite DelBene’s work to flip WA-03.
“DelBene’s keen political instincts were on full display this cycle when Suzan was one of the first and only Members to flag that Democrats could win in Washington’s Third Congressional District. She then went to work and helped elect incoming Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez in a rural and exurban district that long eluded the grasp of Democrats. As DCCC Chair, Suzan is ready to hit the ground running and build upon our unprecedented success this cycle.”
“It’s an honor to be selected by Leader Jeffries to serve as DCCC Chair for the 2024 cycle,” DelBene responded. “I’m ready to get to work with our new leadership team and all corners of our Caucus to win back the House Majority. Democrats are dedicated to showing Americans that governance can work, advancing the policies that will make a difference to families, workers and communities, and pushing back against MAGA Republican extremism and chaos.”
Congratulations to Representative DelBene on being chosen for this important responsibility. The Democratic Party is sure to benefit from her leadership.
