Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., won her bid to run the House Democrats’ campaign arm Thursday.
Bustos won a four-way contest for the post, beating Rep. Denny Heck, D-Wash., Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., and Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y.
Bustos won 117 votes, Heck came in second with 83 votes, and DelBene won 32.
The Illinois congresswoman was elected after co-chairing the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee during the 2018 campaign cycle. Bustos was the only midwestern Democrat in leadership during the 115th Congress.
She also was an influential voice for House Democrats in districts represented by Republicans, having served as chair of heartland engagement for the DCCC during the 2018 cycle. Bustos was one of eight Democratic incumbents running in a district won by President Trump in 2016.
Pressed on concerns that she might have difficulty leading the campaign arm while battling for re-election in a red district, Bustos cited her margin of victory in every election.
“I defeated a Republican to get to Congress. Won by six points, won by 11 points, then won by 20 points, then won by 24 points. I won by the biggest margin of any Democrat in the entire country in a Trump district,” Bustos said. “I won by the biggest margin of anybody running for [the DCCC] race.”
Heck will replace Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., the incoming assistant majority leader, who served atop the DCCC for four years.
Maloney had pushed House Democrats to postpone the DCCC chair vote after being hospitalized Tuesday with a bacterial infection.
