New Democrat Coalition

New Democrat Coalition
New Democrat Coalition
	New Democrat Coalition
Chairman	Ron Kind
Founded	1997
Ideology	Centrism; Third Way; Fiscal conservatism; Cultural liberalism
Political position	Center to Center-left
National affiliation	Democratic Party
International affiliation	Alliance of Democrats (until 2012)
Colors	Blue
Seats in the House	46 / 435
	Politics of United States; Political parties; Elections

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The New Democrat Coalition is a Congressional Member Organization within the United States Congress made up of Democrats who support an agenda that the organization describes as moderate and pro-growth. A November 2012 press release described the organization as "Congress' largest coalition of moderates heading into the 113th Congress," and announced the election of Representative Ron Kind as the Coalition's Chair. As of January 2015, there were 46 members in the House of Representatives.^[11]

Overview

The New Democrat Coalition was founded in 1997 by Representatives Cal Dooley (California), Jim Moran (Virginia) and Timothy J. Roemer (Indiana) as a congressional affiliate of the avowedly centrist Democratic Leadership Council, whose members, including former President Bill Clinton, call themselves "New Democrats." In November 2012, the New Democrat Coalition announced the election of its new leadership team. New Dems elected Rep. Ron Kind (WI-03) as the Chair and re-elected Reps. Jim Himes (CT-04), Rick Larsen (WA-02), and Allyson Schwartz (PA-13) as Vice Chairs and added Rep. Gerry Connolly (VA-11) as a Vice Chair.^[12]

The Senate New Democrat Coalition was founded in the spring of 2000 by Senators Evan Bayh (Indiana), Bob Graham (Florida), Mary Landrieu (Louisiana), Joe Lieberman (Connecticut), and Blanche Lincoln (Arkansas).^[13]

The NDC has worked to craft and pass legislation, including Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) for the People's Republic of China, fast track Trade Promotion Authority, digital signatures, and H-1B visa reform and continues to work on matters such as privacy, broadband, expanding e-learning opportunities and making government more accessible and efficient through the use of technology. Many^[who?] in the Democratic Party's left-wing criticize the group, however, accusing it of ignoring social justice and the poor.^{[citation needed]}

Prior to the 113th Congress, the New Democrat Coalition had seven task forces: Critical Infrastructure and Manufacturing; Education; Energy; Financial Services; Health Care; Innovation, Competitiveness and Tax Reform; and Trade.^[14] Due to the pressing issues our country faces, the task forces for the 113th Congress changed to: Energy chaired by Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO-07) and Rush Holt (NJ-12),Financial Services and Retirement Security chaired by Rep. Gary Peters (MI-14), Rep. John Carney (DE-At Large), and Carolyn McCarthy (NY-04), Health chaired by Rep. Allyson Schwartz (PA-13), Bill Owens (NY-21),and Rep. Kurt Schrader (OR-05), National Security chaired by Jim Moran (VA-08), Colleen Hanabusa (HI-1), and Rep. Ron Barber (AZ-2),Tax Reform and Fiscal Responsibility chaired by Rep. Jim Himes (CT-4), Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-5), and Terri Sewell (AL-07),Tech, Education, and Entrepreneurship chaired by Rep. Gerry Connolly (VA-11), Rep. Susan Davis (CA-53), and Rep. Jared Polis (CO-02), and finally, Trade, Critical Infrastructure and Manufacturing chaired by Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) and Cedric Richmond (LA-02).

Electoral results

House of Representatives

Election year	# of overall seats won	+/-
2000	74 / 435
2002	73 / 435	-1
2004	74 / 435	+1
2006	63 / 435	-11
2008	59 / 435	-4
2010	42 / 435	-17
2012	53 / 435	+11
2014	46 / 435	-7

Political donations

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the top contributors to the New Democrat Coalition caucus members are the finance, insurance and real estate industries.^[15] The Center also reported that the New Democrat Coalition receives a considerable amount of cash from the financial sector and since 1989 members of the New Democrat Coalition have collected $50 million from the finance, insurance and real estate sector.^[16]