Jeffries taps DelBene to lead House Democrats’ campaign arm

The incoming leader of the House Democrats has tapped Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) to lead the party’s campaign arm heading into the 2024 elections, where Democrats are eyeing a return to power after losing their majority in this year’s midterms.

The move by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) puts DelBene — a seasoned former tech executive with deep ties to the deep pockets of Silicon Valley — at the helm of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) during a high-stakes presidential cycle. 

It also places a second woman in the top tiers of a party that prides itself on its diversity in both the caucus and the leadership — a step some saw as crucial in the wake of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) decision to step out of leadership after this term. 

Still, the move came as something of a surprise, as DelBene was not among the pair of lawmakers — Reps. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) and Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) — who had sought publicly to lead the DCCC in the 118th Congress. 

But the playing field changed dramatically last month, when rank-and-file Democrats voted to shift the top DCCC spot from an elected position, chosen by the full caucus, to an appointed role at the discretion of the Democratic leader. 

That adjustment gave Jeffries, who will replace Pelosi at the top of the party next year, new power to choose the campaign chief unilaterally. In picking DelBene, he touted her experience as a “battle-tested” lawmaker with “serious management and operational experience inside and outside government.”

--Developing