Ex-reporter who says party must appeal to rural areas elected to head House Democrats' campaign operation

Cheri Bustos

Illinois Democrat Cheri Bustos, who has repeatedly urged her party to appeal more to rural voters, was elected by her House colleagues to serve as the Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee next year, the Canton Daily Ledger in Illinois reports. The DCCC is a political action committee that supports Democratic House candidates, so Bustos could influence the party to fund candidates sympathetic to rural concerns.

"With an incoming class of 62 Democratic freshmen, 31 of which come from districts that President Trump won, this is a task that Bustos is uniquely qualified for," the Daily Ledger reports. "During the last election, Bustos won Illinois’ 17th Congressional District by 24 points; this was the largest margin of victory of any Democrat from a Trump district. Bustos, who first won her seat in Congress by defeating a Republican incumbent in 2012, is now just the second woman ever to lead the DCCC."

Bustos, a former reporter for the Quad City Times in Davenport, Iowa, recently commissioned a study to find out how Democrats could better serve rural America, seeking advice from 72 elected Democratic officials in rural areas.