TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

SHIFTING POWER

ADVERTISEMENT

By BILLY HOUSE

bhouse@tampatrib.com

Published: November 16, 2008

WASHINGTON - The political winds that swept President-elect Barack Obama to victory also may have eroded some of the Tampa Bay area's congressional clout.

None of the area's federal representatives lost their seats in the Nov. 4 elections. But the dismal election showing by the GOP nationally means Democrats will significantly expand their majorities in the U.S. House and Senate when the two-year congressional session starts in January.

And because the Bay area's representation in Congress is largely Republican, there will be "a diminished ability to reach across the aisle to get any sort of compromise in motion, to the extent they want to be effective," predicts David Wasserman, a congressional analyst with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

Aside from Young, Wasserman said, the Bay area congressional delegation, "is just not as senior" as delegations from many other regions across the country. That lack of seniority may be critical as the shrunken Republican numbers lead to fewer GOP seats on key committees, meaning less say on how legislation is drafted.

Although the House and Senate are expected to reconvene in Washington this week, new committee assignments for the next Congress are not expected until early December.

Tampa Bay's seven-member congressional delegation is made up of four Republican House members and one Democratic House member, along with the state's Republican senator and Democratic senator.
Election victories enabled Democrats to pick up at least 20 more House seats nationally - including a net addition of one from Florida - giving them 255 seats to 174 for Republicans, with races for six seats undecided. Overall, Democrats will hold 10 of Florida's 25 U.S. House seats.

Democrats also gained six seats to increase their majority in the 100-member Senate - combined with the votes of two independents - to 57. If they win the three remaining races they would for the first time in 30 years reach the 60 needed to pass legislation over procedural hurdles Republicans might muster.

Not everyone agrees that the Republican-tilting Bay area and statewide congressional delegations will necessarily see their influence diminished as a result of the increased Democratic control.

"We certainly gained a lot of clout because we now have a friend in the White House," said Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa, the lone area Democrat in the U.S. House.

Castor plays up the ties she and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson believe they have built with the president-elect because of their roles in helping Obama win Florida. Castor, in particular, was among the earliest Florida Democrats to throw her support behind Obama when the Democratic presidential nomination was still up for grabs.

"I am in a strong position to collaborate with the White House" on issues important to Florida, Castor said, "especially on the economic recovery that we are going to be focused on, especially, in the first year."

Nelson spokesman Bryan Gulley sounded a similar optimistic note. After Obama secured the Democratic nomination over Hillary Clinton, Nelson became a visible presence on the stump for Obama and his running mate, Joe Biden, in the Bay area and throughout Florida.

"Certainly, I think, Sen. Nelson has earned his Obama's ear," Gulley said.

However, Young said the answer to whether the Bay area will see less influence in Congress comes down to something else.

"It is going to have a lot to do with whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid want to run roughshod over the minority party or work with Republicans," Young said. But, he conceded, "They have enough votes to do practically anything they want."

Here's a summary of what may be ahead for Florida's two senators and five House members, and their clout rankings early this year against their colleagues, as rated by the nonpartisan Web site Congress.org. That inside-the-Beltway ranking is based on criteria such as committee assignments and ability to get legislation passed.

U.S. SENATE (six-year terms)

Bill Nelson, second-term Democrat

Ranked the 34th most-powerful senator (out of 100); 26th among Senate Democrats. His main committees include Armed Services (chairman of Strategic Forces Subcommittee); Budget; Foreign Relations; and Commerce, Science and Transportation (chairman of the Space, Aeronautics and Related Sciences Subcommittee.)

Nelson will continue to move up in Senate seniority. Still, with three, four or five more-senior Democrats ahead of him on each of his important committees, he is unlikely to move up to a chairman's seat this session.

Mel Martinez, first-term Republican

Ranked the 88th most-powerful senator; 41st among Republicans. His main committees include Armed Services; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; and Energy and Natural Resources.

Martinez likely will juggle his Senate duties in the upcoming session with a potentially tough re-election battle in 2010. This time, the former Bush Administration Housing and Urban Development secretary may have to contend with a Democratic foe getting help from the White House in a state Obama carried.

U.S. House (two-year terms)

Adam Putnam, Republican elected to his fifth term

Ranked 100th most-powerful House member (out of total 435); seventh among House Republicans; Bartow

Putnam's official party role as the House conference chairman had placed him square in the Republican leadership hierarchy behind only the minority leader and whip.

But he announced after the election that he was stepping down from that role as a top party attack dog, seeking a more bipartisan approach to lawmaking and, possibly, looking at a possible run for state agriculture commissioner. When he did, a big "whooshing" sound in terms of clout could be heard leaving the Bay area.

C.W. Bill Young, Republican elected to his 20th term

Ranked 150th most-powerful House member; 13th among House Republicans; Indian Shores

If Young decides to call it quits after the upcoming session, it would strip the Bay area of years of political experience and clout. From Young's senior position on the House Appropriations Committee - a panel he had been chairing until 2005 - he still is able to steer hundreds of millions of dollars to his district, the region and the state.

Kathy Castor, Democrat elected to her second term

Ranked 200th most-powerful House member; 161st among House Democrats; Tampa

She caught lightning by being named as a freshman lawmaker by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to one of nine Democratic seats on the House Rules Committee, essentially an arm of congressional leadership because it sets the floor-debate rules. She also was given a seat also on the House Armed Services Committee.

Castor could have a shot in the upcoming session at a seat on the powerful tax-code-writing Ways and Means Committee.

Ginny Brown-Waite, Republican elected to fourth term

Ranked 263rd most-powerful House member; 72nd among House Republicans; Brooksville

Brown-Waite serves on the Veterans Affairs Committee; Financial Services; and the Committee on Homeland Security. She is likely to move up a bit in seniority if she remains on those committees. But she will remain relatively junior behind the significant number of more-senior Republicans ahead of her on each.

Gus Bilirakis, Republican elected to his second term

Ranked 429 most-powerful House member; 195th among House Republicans; Palm Harbor

Bilirakis was miffed in early 2007 by news that he had been tagged - as an incoming freshman with no record to assess - as the second-least-powerful member of the House, behind even the five nonvoting delegates. By early 2008, he had moved up to 429th, still suffering from his junior status in the minority party.

Bilirakis is a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs; Committee on Homeland Security; and Committee on Veterans Affairs.

Reporter Billy House can be reached at (202) 662-7673.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT