President Biden has officially nominated Sean Patrick Maloney, the former congressman from New York who chaired the committee to elect Democrats to the House, to become U.S. representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The nomination with the rank of ambassador was sent to the Senate, the White House announced Thursday.
If confirmed by the Senate, Maloney would replace the current ambassador, former Delaware governor Jack Markell (D), who was nominated to serve as ambassador to Italy. The OECD, founded in 1961 and based in Paris, is an intergovernmental organization of more than 30 democracies with market-based economies dedicated to promoting economic growth.
The nomination comes as Democrats hope to recapture the seat Maloney narrowly lost to a Republican challenger.
Maloney, 56, served five terms in the House, representing a swing suburban district in the Hudson Valley, north of New York City. Since 2020, he also led the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Maloney helped Democrats fare better than expected in the 2022 midterms, but lost his own race in the newly drawn 17th Congressional District by just 1,800 votes. Maloney was defeated by Michael Lawler, a first-term member of the New York State Assembly who was aided by heavy outside spending.
Maloney’s loss was among a wave of congressional losses for Democrats in New York, which helped flip control of the House to Republicans.
Since then, Democrats have vowed to win back those New York congressional seats. And to underscore the importance of Maloney’s seat for Democrats, President Biden held a campaign-style event last month near the district, in Westchester County, to highlight his fight with Republicans over the debt limit. Lawler surprised many when he accepted the White House’s invitation to attend the event.
‘Mike’s on the other team but you know what mike’s the kinda guy… he’s not one of those MAGA Republicans. I don’t want to get him in trouble by saying anything nice about him,’ – Biden, roughly, on Lawler, just now. https://t.co/a7BsLf5QSx
— Jeff Coltin (@JCColtin) May 10, 2023
Maloney’s nomination to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development appears to narrow the number of Democrats considering running for the 17th District seat next year.
Former congressman Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), who ran unsuccessfully in another district in 2022, is considering a comeback bid in the 17th.
And Liz Gereghty, a small-business founder and sister of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), announced her candidacy last month. Gereghty highlighted her service on the local school board, casting herself as someone who can “find common ground and make things happen.”
In her announcement, Gereghty called the 17th District her “home.” She went on to say, “It is where I raised my three children, started my own small business in Katonah, had the privilege of signing somebody’s first paycheck, oversaw an education budget of over $100 million as a school board member, and led the effort to improve our school facilities and ensure a quality public education for all of our kids.”