Rep. Robert Garcia of California will take over as the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, signaling a shift toward younger leadership among his party.
The ranking member position opened earlier this year when Virginia Rep. Gerald E. Connolly announced he would step down after his esophageal cancer returned. He died last month.
Garcia sounded a conciliatory note after the Tuesday vote, praising the “incredible members” of the committee and its “incredible staff.”
“We’re going to uplift their work and do everything we can to hold this administration accountable and focus on the corruption of Donald Trump and also work to make our agencies better,” Garcia said. “Efficiency is not DOGE. Efficiency is actually making government work better for constituents across the country.”
The vote came down to Garcia versus Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, the acting ranking member from Massachusetts, after two other candidates, Reps. Jasmine Crockett of Texas and Kweisi Mfume of Maryland, dropped out Tuesday morning. Garcia won decisively, 150 to 63, in a secret-ballot vote by the full House Democratic caucus.
The race was seen by some observers as a proxy for a larger debate for the Democrats, between those wanting a younger, more energetic party and an old guard still unwilling to cede control. At 47 years old, Garcia is relatively young for a member of Congress, and much younger than Lynch, 70, or Mfume, 76. Connolly was 75 years old when he died.
A member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Garcia advanced to the top spot on Oversight in just his second term. He is the first openly gay immigrant in Congress, after coming to the U.S. from Peru as a child, and had the backing of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in his ranking member bid.
Asked why he won, Garcia noted the generational dynamics, saying his entry into committee leadership can help broaden Democrats’ appeal. “I think we’re looking at expanding the tent,” he said. “I feel ready, but I also think it’s an opportunity to bring in newer voices to the leadership and to this committee.”
Garcia received support from the party establishment, suggesting the victory was less a youthful uprising and more of a peaceful passing of the baton. He entered today’s vote as the favorite, after the powerful Democratic steering committee voted Monday night to recommend him.
As she left the vote Tuesday, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi gave her blessing to the fellow Californian. “I’m partial to mayors,” she said, alluding to the eight years Garcia spent running Long Beach, Calif.
Many progressives were upset when Connolly won ranking member over Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez heading into this Congress, believing the charismatic digital-native millennial would do a better job playing political attack dog on Oversight than the septuagenarian. Ocasio-Cortez, who doesn’t sit on Oversight currently, opted against running again after Connolly’s death.
Garcia has been one of the more creatively combative members on the Oversight panel. At a hearing on public media funding earlier this year, he pulled up a photo of a Sesame Street character and asked the witnesses, “Is Elmo now or has he ever been a member of the Communist party?”
The city where Garcia was mayor, Long Beach, Calif., was corrected.
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