Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva is in a tussle with U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio and Grijalva to become the ranking member on the House Natural Resources Committee. The spot has been held by senator-elect Ed Markey.
Politico reported on Monday that the campaign “has gotten downright nasty in recent weeks, with Grijalva and DeFazio trading barbs in a series of letters to their Democratic colleagues.” Politico reported that “DeFazio is pitching his experience to fellow Dems, while Grijalva, who is considered the underdog, is saying he’s a “bridge builder.”
According to Politico, DeFazio wrote a letter to colleagues on June 11, arguing that choosing Grijalva for the top-ranking Dem would be “unprecedented.” “In a few cases, our caucus has chosen a less senior member to lead a committee, but in those few cases the elevated committee member was only one or two slots less in seniority. Rep. Grijalva is seeking to jump over five members with more seniority — all of whom support me. That is unprecedented.”
Grijalva, not known for building bridges or anything else in Arizona except resentment says that seniority should not matter. According to Politico, Grijalva said, “The thing I’m running against is not so much the person I chose to challenge, Mr. DeFazio, but it is the concept of seniority. That trumps everything else in people’s minds.”
The notion that Grijalva would argue against seniority over competency is something that is likely to anger Grijalva’s union supporters.