Senate Democrats pick Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker for leadership posts • New Jersey Monitor

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democrats picked leaders for their caucus in closed elections Tuesday, elevating Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar to No. 3 and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker to No. 4.

Klobuchar will replace outgoing Michigan Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow as chair of the influential Steering and Policy Committee.

“I’m someone who believes that you have to stand your ground but also find common ground and look for solutions,” Klobuchar said during a press conference on Tuesday.

Booker joined the executive team in a newly created position as chairman of the Strategic Communications Committee.

“I look forward to serving not just this caucus, but really the larger mission of moving our country forward and advancing an agenda that is truly focused on Americans,” Booker said.

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin was re-elected to serve as the party’s leader, the No. 2 Democrat.

Chuck Schumer of New York was unanimously elected Democratic leader, according to a Senate Democratic leadership aide. Schumer has been the Democratic leader since 2017, after the late Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada retired.

“Our caucus has been a leader in passing historic legislation that has improved the lives of millions of Americans, and we remain fully focused on addressing the most pressing challenges facing our country,” Schumer said in a statement after the election .

“We still have much work to do – in the Senate and as a country – and in the upcoming Congress, our caucus will continue to fight for what is best for working class America. Senate Democrats are ready to get to work for you, the American people,” he continued.

Change of control

The caucus election came as Democrats lost their narrow majority in the Senate and Republicans won four seats in Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia last month. Republicans will be in the majority 53-47.

Despite losing control of the upper chamber when the new Congress convenes in January, Schumer said Democrats will try to work together across party lines.

“As I have long said, we favor finding bipartisan solutions wherever possible and looking for ways to work with our Republican colleagues to help working families,” Schumer said. “However, our Republican colleagues should make no mistake, we will always stand up for our values.”

“We defied gravity”

Klobuchar said she will miss her Senate colleagues like Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Jon Tester of Montana, both of whom were defeated in their re-election bids.

But she said Democrats still won tough races in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin, which she credited to Schumer’s efforts.

“And if you look at this election,” Klobuchar said, taking a deliberate pause before continuing, “we defied gravity in many ways.”

She then looked around the room, asking reporters what she was referring to, until one grumbled, “Evil.”

“That’s right, we defied gravity,” Klobuchar said, proud of her pop culture reference to a song in the newly released film “Wicked.”

“And that’s exactly what we’re going to continue to do, to reach out to those people in our country, the voters who maybe haven’t listened to us as well as they should have, and that’s one of the reasons why I’m like this “I’m excited to work with Cory (Booker) on this,” Klobuchar said.

Among other leadership positions, Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Mark Warner of Virginia were elected as conference co-chairs.

Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin was elected Secretary of the Senate Democratic Conference and Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto was elected Vice Chair of Outreach. The chair of Outreach is Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Last updated on December 3, 2024 at 4:44 p.m