# Katherine Clark House Democratic Whip since January 2023, the No. 2 Democrat in the House behind [[Hakeem Jeffries]]. She has represented the Boston suburbs of Massachusetts's 5th district since December 2013, when she won the special election for the seat [[Ed Markey]] vacated on moving to the Senate. ## Background Born July 17, 1963, in New Haven, Connecticut. She practiced law in Chicago, clerked for a federal judge in Colorado, and was a staff attorney for the Colorado District Attorneys' Council. She then moved to Massachusetts in 1995 and became general counsel of the state's Office of Child Care Services. She chaired the Melrose School Committee, served in the Massachusetts House (2008–2011) and Senate (2011–2013), and won the House seat in 2013. ## Leadership climb - **2019–2021** — Vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus. - **2021–2023** — Assistant Speaker, elected 135–92 over David Cicilline. - **2023–present** — Democratic Whip, elected November 30, 2022, alongside Jeffries (leader) and [[Pete Aguilar]] (caucus chair). ## Online harassment and swatting After [[Gamergate]], Clark became Congress's leading voice on online harassment and introduced a bill to criminalize [[Swatting]]. In early 2016 she was swatted herself: a hoax active-shooter report brought police to her home. ## The second-term impeachment votes As whip, Clark has voted with Jeffries and Aguilar on each of [[Al Green]]'s forced impeachment votes: | Date | Resolution | Clark's vote | |---|---|---| | 2025-06-24 | Iran-strikes article | **Voted to table** (128 Democrats did) | | 2025-12-11 | H.Res. 939 | **Present** (47 Democrats) | | 2026-09-15 | H.Res. 1486 | **Present** (46 Democrats plus Thomas Massie) | ## 2026 She faced her first primary challengers in twelve years, Jonathan Paz and Tarik Samman, and won about 74% of the vote. She is unopposed in the November general election. ## KB significance With Jeffries and Aguilar, Clark is one of the three votes that define the leadership's impeachment position in Trump's second term. They moved from killing [[Al Green]]'s articles in June 2025 to voting "present" from December 2025 on. See [[Trump Impeachments Timeline]]. ## Related - [[Hakeem Jeffries]] · [[Pete Aguilar]] - [[Al Green]] · [[Trump Impeachments Timeline]] - [[Swatting]] · [[Gamergate]]