Top aides leave Dem campaign arm
Complaints about lack of diversity prompt exodus
WASHINGTON — A mass departure of top aides shook the House Democrats’ campaign arm Tuesday, an exodus that followed complaints from Hispanic and black lawmakers that the organization’s staff lacked diversity, and that came amid a war of words between the party and President Donald Trump over race.
Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement late Monday that she promised to “work tirelessly to ensure that our staff is truly inclusive.” Executive Director Allison Jaslow announced her departure Monday and a DCCC aide said five other senior aides also resigned hours later.
The tumult comes as race has become a partisan battlefield following a series of Twitter attacks by Trump on House Democrats of color. In his latest blasts, he has disparaged Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings and his city of Baltimore as a “disgusting” place where “no human being would want to live.”
The shakeup also occurred as both parties are fundraising and recruiting candidates for the elections in 2020, when Democrats will defend their House majority. The DCCC outspent its counterpart, the National Republican Congressional Committee, in 2018 elections that saw Democrats gain House control after eight years in the minority.
Lawmakers complaining about the DCCC’s staff have included Texas Democratic Reps. Filemon Vela and Vicente Gonzalez, and Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Bustos spent Tuesday talking about how to address the problem with leaders of House caucuses representing Hispanics, blacks and other minority groups, and with Democratic incumbents expected to face competitive reelection races, the DCCC aide said.
The aide provided supportive statements from lawmakers, including Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., former head of the Congressional Black Caucus. Richmond said he was happy see Bustos “… tackle issues of diversity and inclusion head on.”
A House leadership aide said top Democrats largely faulted Jaslow for not quickly responding to the complaints. The aide said leaders did not believe Bustos should leave her post.
Bustos, 57, became chairwoman of the campaign committee after the 2018 elections, arguing she would be effective because she has represented a swing district that supported Trump in 2016 and knew how to win in such areas.
Hispanic lawmakers became disenchanted after Bustos replaced top staffers, including minorities, with aides who were largely white, said an aide to Gonzalez. Fudge also told Politico, which first reported on the DCCC’s disarray, about her unhappiness regarding the committee’s lack of diversity.