Top Senate Commerce Democratic Seat Up for Grabs After Nelson Loss
The top Democratic seat on the Senate Commerce Committee is up for grabs after ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., conceded Sunday that he lost his re-election bid against Republican Gov. Rick Scott. Telecom interests identified the race as one of several contests that could potentially upend leadership of the House and Senate Commerce committees (see 1811020048). Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is considered the frontrunner to become the top Senate Commerce Democrat, though there's uncertainty about the appointment.
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Scott prevailed over Nelson by just over 10,000 votes after a contentious recount process (see 1811090045).
Nelson's defeat “means we've lost a senator who is a strong supporter of the public interest” on telecom and tech, said Public Knowledge Vice President Chris Lewis. “It's a shame we've lost such a strong and experienced ranking member.” Nelson has been Commerce ranking member since 2015 (see 1402100075), taking over as the committee's lead Democrat after the retirement of Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va. Nelson has been an active participant in telecom and tech policymaking since taking on the role, including as a main negotiator on the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services (Ray Baum's) Act FCC reauthorization and spectrum statute language included in the FY 2018 federal spending law.
Cantwell privately indicated potential interest in seeking the ranking member seat, but hasn't said anything publicly while the result of Nelson's re-election bid was in doubt, lobbyists said. The leadership role is certainly “Cantwell's to take” if she wants it, given her seniority within the caucus and on the committee, Lewis said. If Cantwell decides to forgo a bid and remain ranking member on the Senate Energy Committee, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is next in Senate Commerce seniority and would be likely to seek the leadership, lobbyists said. Spokespersons for Cantwell and Klobuchar didn't comment.
A Cantwell bid for Senate Commerce ranking member isn't certain despite her private interest in the role, as different interests important to Washington state pull her in opposing directions, lobbyists said. On one side are major Seattle-based tech firms like Amazon and Microsoft pushing Cantwell behind the scenes to seek the Senate Commerce leadership because they view her as a friendly advocate for their interests, including on net neutrality and privacy legislation (see 1811140053), lobbyists said. Environmental interests are meanwhile concerned Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., could succeed Cantwell as Senate Energy ranking member, since he often bucks his fellow Democrats on environmental policy issues, lobbyists said.
Cantwell as Senate Commerce ranking member would be “very good news for the tech sector,” especially given her experience on its policy priorities, said Internet Innovation Alliance honorary Chairman and ex-House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va. He said Cantwell would be a “natural partner” for likely incoming Senate Commerce Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., to collaborate on a range of tech and telecom issues. Such a partnership would compare favorably to the relationship forged by Nelson and Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., Boucher said.
“We would certainly want” Cantwell or whoever succeeds Nelson at Senate Commerce to exhibit her “same level of leadership,” Lewis said. Top Senate Commerce Republicans and Democrats have traditionally had a strong commitment to compromise and bipartisanship and there's no indication that would change if Cantwell takes the top Democratic seat, one lobbyist said: She “has a different policy focus” because of her tech-centric Washington state base, but is still “fairly close to Nelson” on fundamentals. Cantwell has been strong on other Democratic telecom policy priorities, including skepticism about Sinclair's failed bid to buy Tribune, another communications lobbyist said. Cantwell led a group of Democratic senators last year who called for FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to recuse himself from Sinclair-related media ownership rule changes (see 1711150054).
Boucher and Lewis were both hopeful Cantwell will be active in the net neutrality debate in the years ahead if she becomes Senate Commerce ranking member. “She's certainly been right there with Nelson advocating for strong” net neutrality rules, Lewis said. Boucher said he hopes Cantwell would be able to work with Wicker on compromise net neutrality legislation in the same mold as efforts by Thune and Nelson, despite the Democrats' recent emphasis on passing the Congressional Review Act resolution aimed at restoring the FCC's rescinded 2015 rules. The Senate passed the measure in May, but the House is unlikely to vote on it during the lame-duck session (see 1805180049 and 1811140055).