The race to become the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee is heating up — and getting crowded.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) this week threw her hat into the ring to replace the late-Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who died last month of esophageal cancer, making her the fourth member of the committee — and the second member of the Congressional Black Caucus — to vie for the seat.

She joins Reps. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.) and Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), who all announced their bids last week.

Not only is the list unusually long for such a race, but it features two veteran septuagenarians and two congressional newcomers who are decades younger — setting the stage for another tense debate over the seniority system Democrats have favored for generations, but has come under increasing scrutiny in an era when the party’s popularity is well underwater.

“It's usually two, every now and then three [candidates]. I'd have to go back a while to remember four horses trying to get out of the gate at the same time,” Mfume acknowledged.

“We've got some bright young members, some very distinguished and wise older members, and I think there's got to be a melding of those age groups and those thoughts and those priorities,” he continued. “Because at the end of the day, we'll all either win together or we'll lose together.”

At 76 years old, Mfume is the oldest candidate in the race, but not the most senior on the committee. That distinction goes to Lynch, 70, who has served as the interim ranking member since Connolly stepped back from the role in April.

The elder statesmen are citing their long experience as an........

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