WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON - After leading his party to a gain of at least 19 seats in the House, Rep. Chris Van Hollen has agreed to another two-year term as chairman of the committee that works to elect more Democrats to the chamber.
The challenge now confronting the Montgomery County Democrat is holding on to all the seats his party picked up in 2006 and 2008. Democrats rode public anger about the war in Iraq, the financial crisis and President Bush to an 81-seat majority over the past two elections, but many won in Republican districts that will likely prove difficult to defend.
Van Hollen, who won a fourth term last week representing the 8th Congressional District, credits his party's electoral success this year to a decision to "stay on offense" - out-raising Republicans and recruiting Democrats to run deeper into GOP territory.
Going forward, he says, the task is different.
"There will, of course, be some offense," he said yesterday. "But there will be a whole lot of defense."
A second term chairing the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee was the one leadership position he wasn't seeking, Van Hollen said last week. But Democratic aides said yesterday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had prevailed on him to stay on the job for another cycle.
He will also become an assistant to the speaker - a policy role that should help in his political responsibilities.
"How we do in the next election will depend on how we govern between now and then," he said. "And I think that if the Obama administration and the Congress can be seen as successful working together for the next two years, that will obviously put us in a very strong position."
Pelosi is expected to announce Van Hollen's appointment this week. The 49-year-old former Senate staffer gained national attention in 2002 after he defeated Kennedy family member Mark Shriver in the Democratic primary for the 8th District. He went on to unseat eight-term Republican Rep. Constance A. Morella in the general election.
Tapped by Pelosi to build on the party's House gains in 2006, Van Hollen recruited moderate and conservative Democrats to run deeper into Republican territory and oversaw record money hauls to begin advertising against GOP incumbents earlier than ever.
