House Minority Whip Katherine Clark doesn’t like to make predictions.
But the six-term lawmaker feels “very good” about where Democrats are heading into the final few days of this election cycle.
“You know, the momentum is all on our side,” Clark said in an interview this week.
Clark has a lot at stake here. As part of the “New Three” along with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, Clark helped take over from the legendary triumvirate of Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn at the start of 2023. A Democratic victory would make Clark the House majority leader, giving her say over committees and the floor agenda. She’d be the first woman to ever hold the post.
“Listen, I always think that it is important that we keep breaking these barriers,” Clark told us. “I very much look forward to having the opportunity to be majority leader with our first woman president.”
While praising President Joe Biden, Clark also said tapping Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee helped boost Democrats’ chances of winning the House.
“There is an electricity and an excitement about Kamala Harris that’s absolutely going to benefit House races,” Clark added.
During this cycle, Clark has traveled to 27 states and raised more than $33 million, per sources close to the Massachusetts Democrat.
Just this week, Clark was in Arizona, Nevada and Colorado, campaigning with Democratic Reps. Susie Lee (Nev.), Dina Titus (Nev.), Steven Horsford (Nev.), Greg Stanton (Ariz.), Brittany Pettersen (Colo.), Yadira Caraveo (Colo,) and Joe Neguse (Colo.), as well as candidates Yassamin Ansari and Amish Shah.
With abortion being a hugely important national issue — and one Democrats have focused on heavily since the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision striking down Roe v. Wade — Clark has become House Democrats’ leading voice on the issue. Clark, privately dubbed the “Roe Warrior” by some Democrats, has repeatedly brought up on the campaign trail how she needed a medical procedure years ago following a miscarriage.
“This issue of reproductive freedom is one that resonates with people,” Clark said.
Clark said she hears this discussion “everywhere I go,” from college campuses to roundtables with both urban and suburban voters nationwide. Clark asserted “there’s a connection at gut level with voters across the country” on this topic.
Yet with the election so close — and the outcome so unpredictable — we asked Clark whether House Democrats could win if Trump wins the presidency. Clark believes they can.
“I think we are going to win in districts that Trump is going to win. But again, our focus right now is closing this out,” Clark responded.
Could House Democrats find common ground with Trump on issues such as government funding, taxes, the debt limit, Ukraine and other huge topics facing Congress and the next president?
“We are always going to put the people’s voices in finding solutions first,” Clark said. “I believe in the American people. And they are going to vote for a government that works for them, not a gover
