Dreams, desks and selfies: Newly elected members of Congress learn their way around

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep.-elect LaKesha Womack, a community organizer who stunned her own Democratic Party by defeating a well-know North Carolina Republican on her shoestring $56,000 campaign budget, said she’s excited to arrive in Washington and show what’s possible.

Rep.-elect Brian Poindexter said his win over incumbent GOP Rep. Max Miller ensures Ohio remains a very swing state.

And Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot in New Jersey who said she’s spent her whole life “trying to find the biggest, hardest problem to throw myself at,” was ready to give Congress a try. “There’s always the unknown.”

They were among more than 100 newly elected members of Congress arriving in Washington this week for the start of freshmen orientation — the crush of new Democrats, many bringing a new sense of urgency after the party’s sweep of the midterm elections, and the slim new class of freshmen Republicans.

“People were just looking for somebody who’s going to listen to them,” said Womack, who said she won by simply showing up and talking with voters.

“I’m a single mom and so I know what it’s like to have to live on a budget and figure out how am I going to feed my family,” she said. “And that’s what people want to fight for them in Washington right now.”

New-member orientation creates an unusual mash-up on Capitol Hill, as the newcomers are arriving and the exiting lawmakers begin to clear out, all in preparation for the peaceful transfer of power on Jan. 3, when lawmakers are sworn in and the new Congress begins.

This week’s orientation includes training sessions and ritzy receptions for the newcomers, and for the defeated or retirees it’s the start of figuring out what’s next. Briefing rooms are filled with information about office set up, payroll and benefits, and there’s a room to take officials portraits.

It’s also the time for the House and Senate to hold internal party elections for their new leaders, ahead of a public vote in January for the speaker of the House.

“I’m looking forward to learning as much as I can and being the best representative I can be for my district,” said Poindexter as he arrived at the nearby Navy Yard hotel where lawmakers are temporarily housed.

Selfies, besties and tough votes ahead

The Capitol was a changed place as the members-elect started meeting up with their colleagues and getting to know their way around the place.

Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan was swarmed by young people in the Capitol basement, taking pictures with the progressive star who is also the first Muslim in the Senate.

Texas Sen.-elect James Talarico paid a visit to the outgoing Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who lost his own primary for reelection when President Donald Trump backed his rival, Ken Paxton, who was defeated.

“I’m so grateful for his advice and his guidance as I try to fill his big shoes,” Talarico said of Cornyn as he walked through the Senate between orientation events. He said he wants to meet with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas as well.

And Sen.-elect Annie Andrews, Roy Cooper, Peggy Flanagan, Josh Turek and others.

“First Freshmen Senator selfie! Couldn’t ask for a better team,” she posted as the caption.

Among them was former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who defeated Republican Sen. Jon Husted, a Trump-backed favorite, for a comeback. Brown was in the Senate for 18 years before he lost two years ago to GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno, but he still joined his freshmen colleagues for their orientation.

“I’ve actually learned some things,” said Brown, who was celebrating his 74th birthday on Monday. “I’ve gotten to know my colleagues.”

Leadership elections test the new members

One of the first decisions the incoming lawmakers will make happens even before they’re sworn into office, as they huddle with their parties in private meetings to choose House and Senate leadership.

Congressional offices are being bombarded with phone calls and social media messages pushing Democrats to dump their current choices – House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer – in favor of a fresh start.

Jeffries scoffed when questioned Monday if he had support— the typically low-key leader flashing confidence he would have the votes. He is on track to make history as the nation’s first Black American to become speaker of the House.

Progressive lawmakers, in particular, are agitating for change reflective of voters’ sweeping turnout for Democrats, especially in the Senate.

Sen.-elect Chris Pappas, D-N.H. — who was darting back and forth between his day job as an outgoing member of the House and his new one as an incoming senator — said their class is “a new generation of leadership that wants to do things differently and shake up Washington.”

He said he wants to meet with Schumer and will later decide who he will support, if anyone challenges him.

Republicans will also choose their new leaders after House Speaker Mike Johnson decided to step aside following the party’s election defeat. Tuesday’s closed-door race between the No. 2 Republican Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan is a repeat of the contest in 2023, before Johnson rose to power.

Rep. Richard Hudson, the House GOP campaign chairman who lost his own reelection bid in North Carolina, hesitated to assess the outcome.

Besides, he said, he doesn’t have a vote in the matter — the exiting lawmakers are blocked from the GOP meeting.

A diverse new class arrives

As the week began, the House Chaplain Margaret Kibben opened Monday’s session with a prayer, “some of us enjoying victories and others enduring disheartening defeats.”

On the Democratic side, the new Congress will see many milestones – Flanagan will be the first Native American female U.S. senator, Pappas the first gay male senator, and more.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, the House Democrats campaign chief, called the party’s candidates “all very unique.”

“We had firefighters, ministers, mayors, veterans, teachers, farmers, prosecutors, union leaders, law enforcement, doctors, journalists and even a Grammy-award winning musician,” she said earlier.

“They understand that their job title is representative, not rubber stamp.”

Johnson, the outgoing speaker, hosted a reception in the Capitol’s stately Statuary Hall for the House Republicans, whose shrinking numbers left the party lopsided, their minority made up of mostly white men.