Barbara Lee’s leadership bid: Oakland representative loses in effort to become Democratic Party caucus chair.
WASHINGTON — Oakland Rep. Barbara Lee was narrowly defeated Wednesday in her bid to break into House Democratic leadership, a loss she blamed on barriers for women of color.
Democratic incumbents and incoming members who were elected this month voted behind closed doors for New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries over Lee for party caucus chair. The vote was 123 to 113.
The contest for the Democrats’ No. 5 job pitted the progressive Lee, who would have been the first African American woman elected to the House hierarchy of either party, against fellow Congressional Black Caucus member Jeffries, whose backers view him as a potential future speaker.
Lee said afterward that “it’s important that we leave our caucus unified, because it’s Democrats who are going to save the soul of America.”
But the 72-year-old Oakland Democrat also said she believes sexism and ageism played a role in her loss to Jeffries, 48. Lee said she faced “institutional barriers.”
“You heard and saw what took place (in the race). So I absolutely think that’s the case,” Lee said. “That’s something that women, especially women of color and African American women, have to face. ... That’s nothing new. It’s here, it’s everywhere. But I think we did a great job . ... We still have many glass ceilings to break.”
Asked to respond to Lee’s comments, Jeffries demurred.
“It was a friendly contest of ideas, and members of the House Democratic caucus worked their will,” he said.
Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, said Lee’s whip count had shown her winning. She said members should have the “courage” to make their votes public.
“It was very disappointing to people like me, because I think Barbara Lee has shown extraordinary leadership in her career,” Speier said. “It’s about time that we have to say what we mean and mean what we say, which means rather than have secret ballots we should have public ballots . ... Because there’s this game that some of my colleagues play where they say one thing to one member and then say something to another member.”
Speier acknowledged that Jeffries’ supporters had other considerations, such as not wanting multiple California members in a party leadership topped by San Francisco Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
“It’s hard to dissect a defeat, because there’s so much that goes into it,” Speier said.
It’s the second time in two years that Lee has run for a leadership position and come up just short. She lost the race for vice chair to Rep. Linda Sanchez of Whittier (Los Angeles County) by two votes in 2016.
Rep. Eric Swalwell of Dublin said he had voted for Lee, and called her and Jeffries “two good choices.” He added, however, that Jeffries’ election means “the next generation of leadership is clearly coming to our caucus.”