Joe Neguse is the lone noncoastal lawmaker in House Democratic leadership, and he’s quick to remind visitors to his Rayburn office where he comes from.
With a grin, the affable and erudite former attorney points out a large photograph of Emerald Lake and a landscape painting of the Rocky Mountains hanging above the entrances. Behind his desk hangs a topographic map of his home state — a gift from former Republican Sen. Cory Gardner.
Colorado looms large for the 38-year-old son of Eritrean immigrants, who has been candid about the challenges of being away from his wife and young daughter. But homesickness has not prevented Neguse from quickly asserting himself as one of a crop of new leaders in the Democratic Party.
