U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse is making a bid for a major leadership position, announcing Thursday he will run for caucus chair for the U.S. House Democrats.

The caucus chair is the No. 5 position in House Democratic leadership. Politico’s Nicholas Wu first reported the Lafayette Democrat’s bid.

Neguse’s star has been rising within the Democratic caucus. First came a pair of plum committee assignments: Natural Resources and Judiciary. He then served as a House impeachment manager for President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial in 2021.

Neguse, then 37, was the youngest impeachment manager in U.S. history. 

In the 2021-22 Congress, Neguse was co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, the No. 8 position in House Democratic leadership.

The current caucus chair, fellow impeachment manager Hakeem Jeffries of New York, is termed out of the position. 

Based on unofficial results, Neguse won his third term in office in a landslide Tuesday over Republican Marshall Dawson, with Neguse taking nearly 70% of the vote.

Neguse said in his Thursday letter to the Democratic caucus that in his capacity as co-chair of the policy and communications committee, he’s worked to engage everyone in the Democratic caucus, “firmly rooted in my belief that every member has much to offer to the House and to the country.”

Neguse pointed out he’s traveled to 21 states in the past seven months to work alongside members in their districts, and was confident “in our ability to harness the deep expertise and countless talents of our members to work on behalf of the American people.”

Neguse said he would bring that same committee to the position of caucus chair, with three goals:

• modernizing caucus operations, including development of an an app to provide caucus information
• expanding policy opportunities, which he said would include providing more opportunities for members to share their policy expertise 
• improving member services that could include increasing press availability for caucus members and additional member assistance programs. 

The 118th Congress will convene on Jan. 3, 2023. Leadership elections are expected to take place as soon as next week.