House Dems keep top campaign strategist

The executive director of the House Democratic campaign arm will stay on for another cycle, incoming Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) announced Thursday morning.

It will be DCCC Executive Director Kelly Ward’s third cycle with the group. She served as the political director during the 2012 cycle, when Democrats picked up seats.

“Kelly Ward brings infectious energy, unrivaled determination and key strategic insights to her job, and I am so pleased that she has agreed to stay on at the DCCC,” Luján said in a statement. “After working with Kelly for the past two years, I’ve been so impressed with her ability to both develop the strategy and operationalize the day-to-day work needed to aggressively take the fight to Republicans, and we’re lucky to have her lead our team.”

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Luján was announced as the group’s chairman this week.

Ward helped the DCCC outraise the National Republican Congressional Committee in the 2014 cycle by a wide margin despite being in the minority, though Democrats lost a dozen seats in this month’s election. A few races that haven’t yet been called. House Republicans won their largest majority since World War II.

“I’m honored to be working with Chairman Lujan and House Democrats, who are committed to expanding our ranks, holding Republicans accountable and strengthening the middle class,” Ward said in a statement. “I’m lucky to have worked with Chairman Israel as we weathered a storm that could have been worse in 2014, and I look forward to building on the fundamentals we have in place for a successful election night in 2016.”