A few days before he was sworn in to represent Maryland's 8th District, Rep. Chris Van Hollen sounded confident, even cocky, about having an impact as a freshman Democrat in the Republican-dominated House of Representatives.
"I've been a backbencher before," Van Hollen (D) said in early 2003. "I know how to wage battles from the back row."
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D) says that being in the minority party "means you've got to sort of refocus your strategy."
(Michael Lutzky -- The Washington Post)
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Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D)
Born: Jan. 10, 1959, in Karachi, Pakistan.
Education: bachelor of arts degree, Swarthmore College, 1983; master's degree, Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, 1985; Georgetown University Law Center, 1999.
Career: lawyer.
Residence: Kensington.
Family: married, three children.
Campaign theme: "Making a difference for people by making a difference on issues."
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Six sobering months later, he understood what he was up against. The 12-year veteran of a Democrat-controlled state legislature had devolved into the weakest form of political life.
"You sort of knew academically what it's like to live in the minority," Van Hollen, 45, told the New Republic. "But it's another thing to live it."
In the months that followed, however, Van Hollen found his way, according to friends and colleagues, even outmaneuvering the Republican leadership on occasion.
"He's figured out how to ambush them," said Rep. George Miller (Calif.), senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, on which Van Hollen serves.
He surprised the Bush administration last fall by securing passage of an amendment that stymied plans for more federal workers to compete with the private sector for jobs.
In July, Van Hollen joined with Republican Jeff Flake (Ariz.) to help pass an amendment prohibiting the use of federal funds for a $10 billion buyout of tobacco farmers. A House-Senate conference committee agreed to make the tobacco companies pay.
And last month, he helped expose a loophole that gave lenders more than $1 billion earmarked for student loans. The House and Senate voted to stop the practice.
"It's a difficult political environment," Van Hollen said in an interview. "It means you've got to sort of refocus your strategy."
At first, Van Hollen's zeal irritated Republican colleagues.
"Initially, he would come up with a lot of surprise motions, and I said, 'Chris, that is not the way things work here,' " said Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee.
Despite the achievements, Van Hollen's minority status is a rallying point for Republicans in the 8th District, which includes half of Montgomery and a small part of Prince George's County.
Republican challenger Charles R. Floyd, a retired military officer and former Bush administration official, argues that Van Hollen is too liberal to be effective in a Republican-led Congress.
