Steny Hoyer will raise his right hand today and become the highest ranking congressman in Maryland’s history.
Hoyer, 67, easily beat back a challenge from U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., last month to become House majority leader.
Only former Maryland Gov. Spiro Agnew obtained higher political office when he became vice president in 1969.
Hoyer was born in New York City but came of age in Maryland. By his own admission, he was a lackluster student at the University of Maryland. But, he said, he decided to go into politics in the early 1960s, when John F. Kennedy gave a speech at the college.
Hoyer told The Examiner last year he was moved by Kennedy’s call for public service, to help those who couldn’t help themselves. He won a seat in the Maryland State Senate in 1966 and nine years later would become the youngest Senate president in Maryland history. He was 35.
As majority leader, Hoyer will be expected to do the heavy lifting of the party and finding a balance between the liberal leadership and the conservative freshmen.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said Hoyer is the right man for the job.
“He’s done a good job on keeping the Democrats focused on the issues that unite them — finding the consensus and the common ground,” Van Hollen said last year.
But Hoyer also has clashed with House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. The two challenged one another for the House minority leader’s position in 2002 — Pelosi won and she backed Murtha in last month’s leadership election.
The leadership elections divided the informal college of capital region politicians. Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., backed Murtha.
“I have spoken with Steny,” Moran said in an e-mail to The Examiner on Wednesday. “I congratulated him on his victory and told him that as my majority leader, I looked forward to helping him andour party succeed.”
Hoyer’s spokeswoman, Stacey Bernards, said that the battles are in the past.
“He and Mrs. Pelosi have a good relationship,” Bernards said. “They’ve proved that over the last four years.”
