Ex-Sanders campaign organizer touts Barbara Lee as possible Pelosi replacement

House Democratic leadership could be up for grabs and former Bernie Sanders campaign organizer Alexandra Rojas thinks Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) is the best one for the job. 

“I’d love to see someone like Barbara Lee be in leadership in the House of Representatives,” Rojas told Hill.TV’s “Rising.”

Rojas is currently the executive director of the progressive political action committee Justice Democrats.

Rojas believes Lee has what it takes to unite Democrats, and is prepared to take a leadership position in the party’s caucus.

“She has consistently shown that she upholds progressive values – not just in her legislation but as she speaks all throughout the country,” Rojas said. 

Rojas added that Democrats want “fresh new blood as the face of the Democratic Party” and she thinks Lee represents just that.

This isn’t the first time Lee’s name has been brought up as a possible Democratic leader of the House.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) echoed similar thoughts following her stunning upset over incumbent Democrat Rep. Joe Crowley. In an interview with The Washington Post, Ocasio-Cortez suggested Lee as an alternative rather than committing to back Nancy Pelosi as House speaker. 

“I’d like to see new leadership, but I don’t even know what our options are,” she said. “I mean, is Barbara Lee running? Call me when she does.”

Lee is a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. She also served as a co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and vice chair of the LGBT Equality Caucus.

Lee is one of the few lawmakers to oppose the Afghanistan War from the very beginning. In fact, Lee was the only one in Congress to vote against the war, just days following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

— Tess Bonn 


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