Minneapolis Democrat Keith Ellison is the newest member of the House Democratic whip team.
A whip and his deputies help count the party’s votes and convince members to vote with leadership on legislation. Ellison will be a “Chief Deputy Whip” in the 113th Congress, one of 10 serving under Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland.
Ellison is the co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and will, in theory, be especially influential with the liberal members of the Democratic caucus. He voted with leadership 94 percent of the time over the last two years, though he broke with his party on a handful of high-profile pieces of legislation.
Devin Henry can be reached at dhenry@minnpost.com.
