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With the dust settling on the election, it can be easy to forget that, technically, the 118th Congress is still in progress. But preparations for 2025 are already underway — including the races for leadership positions. We don’t have any Nevadans gunning for majority leader — this isn’t the Harry Reid era — but nonetheless, Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) is running to have a seat at the House Democratic leadership table next year.
The News of the Week: House Democratic leadership races
Two years ago, Lee successfully pitched the creation of a battleground representative in the House Democratic leadership team. Predicated on the notion that members from swing districts have different needs than the average House Democrat, and deserve a voice in leadership, the caucus adopted Lee’s proposal in 2022.
Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), an exurban ex-Central Intelligence Agency officer now leaving the House to run for governor of Virginia, held the position in its inaugural term. Now, Lee wants to serve in the role she created.
“I took a pass on it last cycle because I felt that was like the thing to do,” Lee said. “Now I want to run.”
To win the role, Lee will face Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH), who just won a second term representing Cincinnati and its red suburbs, and Rep. Kim Schrier (D-WA), who, like Lee, is going into her fourth term and represents western Washington, including Seattle exurbs.
Rather than the entire caucus, the only members who get to vote for battleground leadership representative are those classified as “Frontline” by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and new members who flipped previously red seats or won competitive races. This cycle, there were 31 Frontline members — 28 of whom held their seats or whose races have not been called, making them eligible to vote — and 11 winners from the “Red to Blue” program in the voter pool. Members will vote on Tuesday.
In a letter to colleagues, Lee outlined her goals for the position and the reasons she believes she deserves it — with the argument hinging on Nevada’s electoral importance.
In her letter, Lee notes that the majority of Democrats will likely plan to fight the incoming Trump administration at each opportunity; her role would be to explain battleground representatives’ perspective to leadership — especially when members in tough seats plan to vote with Republicans or take a different stance.
“I think I’m a strong voice in the room,” Lee wrote. “The whole intent of creating the seat was to make sure that, now [that] it’s going to be a lot of response to the craziness that’s going to come our way, making sure that there’s the nuance and the understanding of what battleground members go through, before we automatically respond.”
Besides her Nevada bona fides, Lee also noted that she’s from the Midwest (Ohio) and has multiple siblings who voted for Trump, and that she’s built strong relationships with leadership over her four terms, including serving in leadership roles in the center-left New Democrat Coalition and the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. She also noted that she financially supported some fellow Frontliners — a rarity, given that members representing swingy districts like hers tend to have to spend all of their money on their own race.
With such a small pool of voters in the leadership race, relationships often carry the day. To that end, Lee has been working the phones, particularly to connect with incoming members. She’s offering to provide members cover with leadership to vote against the party, help with navigating legislative priorities and committee assignments and bringing members together in more informal gatherings — some policy-focused, others old-fashioned vent sessions.
The Nevada Angle
Lee’s pitch to her colleagues is in many ways a pitch about Nevada’s importance to the national discourse — and Democrats’ path back to the White House. Lee noted in her letter that her district is in a swing state and is racially and economically diverse, making her uniquely positioned to be responsive to the needs of the very working class voters that abandoned the Democratic Party.
As a representative in a swing district in a swing state, where nonpartisans are a plurality, Lee argues that she has a strong vantage point from which to advocate for the needs of members running in tough districts.
They’re not directly connected, but if Lee is able to win this leadership race, it’s a good sign that elected Democrats think of Nevada — and its representatives — as arbiters of Democratic strength with the voters the party needs nationally.
Lee’s argument — while specific to her House tenure — is emblematic of the pitch that Nevada Democrats will make to elevate the state’s position in the Democratic presidential nominating contest calendar for 2028. Consider this an early test of the case — but, given the insular nature of the race, not necessarily indicative of what might happen in the Democratic National Committee.
The Impact
If Lee wins Tuesday, she’ll be a respected voice among the highest ranks of House Democrats — and it will represent another achievement for a member who has already begun filling up her resume with leadership roles in various caucuses.
Lee is no average backbencher — and if she wins the race to be battleground representative, she’ll be able to make her case more forcefully.
Around the Capitol
🌴Eyes on Tuesday — The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee is hosting a business meeting Tuesday to discuss pending legislation — and both the Clark and Washoe county lands bills are on the agenda.
💰BIL money for heating assistance — Once the Republican trifecta takes effect in January, I’ll be closely tracking what happens to unspent money from the Inflation Reduction Act and other Biden-era programs. But for now, the announcements are still rolling out. The latest is $15 million for Nevada through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, a Bipartisan Infrastructure Law program. Families will be able to apply for assistance with their energy bills.
What I’m Reading
MSNBC: Sen. Rosen: Democrats will use ‘every tool we have’ to protect reproductive freedom
A look into Rosen’s priorities for her second term.
The Nevada Independent: Anatomy of a red wave: How Trump won Nevada
How Clark County tells the story of the race.
Newsweek: Arizona and Nevada Senate races face unsubstantiated claims of election stealing
The famous “let’s only steal the Senate” plot.
Notable and Quotable
“Like all nominees, I’m going to wait until they come before [the Senate], [have] a hearing, do my vetting, what I need to do, and decide whether they’re appropriate for the position or not.”
— Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), on Trump nominating Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to be attorney general
Vote of the Week
H.R. 8446 — On Passage: Critical Mineral Consistency Act
A mining bill that most Democrats vote against is supported by most of Nevada’s House Democrats? Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. The bill, supported by the National Mining Association, is a bureaucratic fix that makes the Department of the Interior’s critical mineral list identical to the Department of Energy’s — and therefore makes five minerals, including copper, which is mined in Nevada, eligible for certain tax credits.
AMODEI: Yes
HORSFORD: Yes
LEE: Yes
TITUS: No
