AOC Easily Defeated in Committee Leadership Bid That Nancy Pelosi Worked the Phones to Tank

(Francis Chung/E&E News/POLITICO via AP Images)

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) soundly defeated Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) to become the leading Democrat on the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday.

In a vote taken by the entirety of the Democratic caucus, Connolly prevailed over Ocasio-Cortez by a margin of 131-84, one day after the Democrats’ Steering an Policy Committee voted for Connolly over Ocasio-Cortez by a margin of 34-27.

The larger caucus typically follows the steering committee’s lead, but there are exceptions and many observers believed that Ocasio-Cortez could ultimately pull out a victory.

Here’s what Politico Playbook had to say about the contest on Tuesday morning:

Here’s what we’re hearing going in: It’s going to be a crapshoot. And that’s in no small part because the age gap isn’t the only divide at play here:

Generational: While Connolly is literally twice AOC’s age, he is by and large not seen in the same vein as the other vanquished senior Democrats. For one thing, he’s never led a full committee, having been passed over by Rep. JAMIE RASKIN (D-Md.) on Oversight two years ago. And he’s been a workhorse on that committee, grinding away on federal workforce and Postal Service issues and diving deep on Trump’s hotel entanglements during the incoming president’s first term.

But Connolly is also facing a serious cancer diagnosis and questions about whether he is capable of being the tip of the Democratic spear on a key committee where communications — AOC’s forte — is everything.

Last week, Punchbowl News reported that former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was “actively working to tank” Ocasio-Cortez’s candidacy and “making calls on behalf of” Connolly.

“Pelosi has made her support for Connolly publicly known. But her behind-the-scenes maneuvering shows the amount of political capital Pelosi’s willing to put into the contest, which will be decided next week,” explained Punchbowl.