Rep. Lee on path to get role as next CBC chairwoman

Rep. Barbara Lee, an ardent war opponent and early supporter of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, appears to have locked up the chairmanship of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) for the 111th Congress.

The official vote won’t take place until after the elections in November, but several members say Lee (D-Calif.) is the only lawmaker running for the post.

{mosads}Her ascension will also open the leadership of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. She and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) have been co-chairwomen of the group for four years. But they will not seek reelection next year, Woolsey said Wednesday. She said she and Lee are hoping that there is a two-member co-chairmanship for the next Congress as well.

“It’s important for there to be some new people in the leadership,” Woolsey said. Names that have emerged as potential contenders include Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).

Lee ran against Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich.) in 2006, but dropped out in August of that year, saying she didn’t want a divisive race in a crucial election year for Democrats.

When Democrats took control of Congress that year, the power of the CBC grew exponentially.

The only other member who had expressed interest was Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio), who died suddenly in August.

Lee’s supporters said she advanced within the caucus because she mixed fundraising ability with a keen grasp of policy.

“She brings knowledge of how to get things done,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.). “She knows how to work with leadership to bring forward the agenda.”

Rep. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) said he appreciated her “liberal but practical stances” on issues like the Iraq war. He also said that if Obama is elected, it will be helpful for the CBC to have an early supporter of hers at the helm. Lee is Obama’s western regional co-chairwoman.

Some of her stances have been even more controversial. In 2001, in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, hers was the lone vote against war in Afghanistan.

She later named her political action committee “One Voice.”

Lee formally announced her desire to be chairwoman in a letter to CBC colleagues this week.

“With your support, I hope to continue to ‘Change Course, Confront Crises, and Continue the Legacy’ of those who paved the way for each of us to have this incredible honor to serve and fight for equality, justice and peace for our African-American communities and for the entire nation,” Lee wrote.

She also stressed her work on Iraq, the genocide in Darfur, the fight to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic and her help to focus the Congress on poverty elimination.

Lee’s ascension would mark the third straight uncontested CBC leadership race. Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.), like Kilpatrick, was elected without opposition in 2004. Prior to that, however, the group struggled through two divisive races, one in which Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) fended off Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) and another in which Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) narrowly edged out Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.).