A key Democratic committee voted Monday night to recommend Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) to lead the party on the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, lending a good deal of momentum to the second-term Californian heading into a vote of the full caucus on Tuesday.

Huddled in the basement of the Capitol, the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee sided with Garcia over three other Democrats on the panel: Reps. Stephen Lynch (Mass.), Kweisi Mume (Md.) and Jasmine Crockett (Texas). The seat had been held by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), 75, who died last month after a short battle with esophageal cancer.

Lynch was the runner-up, followed by Mfume and Crockett.

The vote is not binding. While the Steering and Policy Committee is an........

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