The executive director of the House Democrats' campaign arm is stepping down amid an outcry from Democratic lawmakers over the lack of diversity in the committee's senior ranks.
Executive Director Allison Jaslow, a close confidante of Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Cheri Bustos, announced her resignation at an all-staff meeting Monday, according to multiple sources. Jaslow said her resignation is effective immediately.
"When I was in eighth grade, I decided that my life would be dedicated to serving my country. I did that first in uniform but since have tried to be a force of good in our politics," Jaslow, an Iraq War veteran, said in a statement later. "And sometimes selfless service means having the courage to take a bow for the sake of the mission -- especially when the stakes are so high."
Jaslow's sudden departure comes as Bustos tries to contain the fury from Democratic lawmakers and aides that she has done little to address the lack of diversity in the upper ranks of the campaign arm since winning the chairmanship late last year.
Two Hispanic lawmakers, Reps. Vicente González and Filemon Vela, called for Jaslow's resignation in a statement to POLITICO on Sunday.
"The DCCC is now in complete chaos," Gonzalez and Vela said in their statement. "The single most immediate action that Cheri Bustos can take to restore confidence in the organization and to promote diversity is to appoint a qualified person of color, of which there are many, as executive director at once. We find the silence of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on this issue to be deafening."
Bustos flew back to D.C. on Monday to address committee staff in person after aides demanded an "immediate restructuring" of senior management following a POLITICO report last week detailing several complaints about Bustos' tenure atop the campaign committee. Jaslow's announcement came at the top of the meeting, which lasted more than an hour and a half, according to sources present.
The meeting follow a tumultuous weekend for Bustos and her senior team, in which they struggled to respond to demands from Democratic lawmakers and committee aides that actions immediately be taken to address the diversity shortfall.
Jaslow convened an emergency all-staff meeting Friday that was described as "very emotional" by a committee aide present. Jaslow cried as she took responsibility for not doing enough to diversify the upper ranks as some staffers complained that neither she or her deputies were people of color.
Bustos held a tense call with staffers on Saturday before deciding to fly back and address the committee in person on Monday. On the call, Bustos "briefly" apologized for offending people by describing her husband and children as being of "Mexican descent" and announced she will undergo diversity and inclusion training in the coming weeks, according to multiple sources.
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