Connolly wins vote to be top Oversight Democrat

Rep. Gerry Connolly cemented his victory as the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, besting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a closed-door caucus vote Tuesday morning, according to two people in the room for the vote.

On Monday, Connolly (D-Va.) won the recommendation of the powerful Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which oversees committee assignments. The caucus has generally followed the steering panel’s picks.

Connolly, a veteran investigator, had launched his bid after current Oversight ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) launched a bid to become the top Judiciary Committee Democrat. Connolly had shored up support among key Democratic blocs like the centrist New Democrat Coalition and had built strong relationships across the caucus during his tenure in Congress, including a powerful ally: former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Democrats are looking to use the Oversight Committee and its high-profile perch as a foil to President-elect Donald Trump’s administration in the next Congress.

Connolly had unsuccessfully run for the panel’s top Democratic job last Congress, losing to Raskin in both the steering and caucus elections.