Markey: Grijalva drops bid to be top Democrat on Natural Resources

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) is dropping his bid to be top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, paving the way for Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) to take the mantle unchallenged, a Markey spokesman said.
 
“It is my understanding that Mr. Grijalva is no longer challenging Mr. Markey for the ranking member position,” Markey spokesman Eben Burnham-Snyder told E2.
 
The two Democrats met Monday and agreed for Markey to go unchallenged, Burnham-Snyder said.

A Grijalva spokesman confirmed the two lawmakers met Monday but could not confirm that Grijalva dropped his bid.  
 
Grijalva was facing an upward climb against Markey, who is exercising his senior status on the panel. Markey has been a member of the committee since 1976 and has been next-in-line to lead the Democrats on the panel since 1999.
 
He had not exercised that seniority until now in lieu of being top Democrat on a key energy and environment panel on the Energy and Commerce Committee as well as the head of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) Energy Independence and Global Warming Select Committee.