Rep. Xavier Becerra Seeking Chair of House Democratic Caucus

By Tony Castro, Voxxi

Rep. Xavier Becerra, the fifth-ranking Democrat in the House, has announced that his wants to be chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.

The California Democrat has sent a formal letter to colleagues, saying he wants to move up in the party machinery in Congress and campaigning on his important relationships.

“It’s developing the friendships that let you get to the point where you can actually ask for a vote,” he said in his letter.

Becerra is believed to have the inside track to the position as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is one of his biggest supporters. He is also helped by the fact that a quarter of the freshman Democratic class entering Congress comes from California.

“The more Californians there are,” says Becerra, “the greater opportunity I have to try to have them be with me, supportive of me.”

Democrats vote on leadership after the Thanksgiving break.

So far, Becerra is the only one running for the position, which opened up because Connecticut Congressman John Larson was termed out of leadership.

Rep. Xavier Becerra shows he could move up in leadership

As the fifth most powerful among Democrats in the House, Becerra established himself as one of the most sought after political figures this fall.

“I’ve been to Connecticut. I’ve been to Ohio. I’ve been to Michigan. I’ve been to Illinois,” says Becerra who has been to those states not only as President Barack Obama’s surrogate but also to campaign for fellow Democrats.

“Xavier is tremendous on the campaign trail because he doesn’t come across as a slick, professional politician,” says political consultant William Orozco. “People trust him. Voters listen to him. He has all those Middle American values that are invaluable in a campaign.”

Becerra, 53, has also emerged as someone who could move up the leadership ladder in the coming years. He is now a member of the new budget-cutting “super committee”— Congress’s 12-member joint deficit-reduction panel.

It is a position that has been made all that more important in light of the economic recession and the focus of the presidential campaign on reducing the national deficit.

That work is coming to a deadline shortly after the election and as the vice chairman of the House Democratic caucus, Becerra must balance that role with being a member of the supercommittee, the CHC and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

“I don’t care what the final package looks like— it’s going to be a tough vote,” Becerra says of the supercommittee challenge. “There are no easy votes here, and so it’s going to be something that. . . the pain will be obvious, and it’s more a matter of (whether) we can show we spread the pain, so we can spread the gain as well.”

This article was first published in Voxxi.