WASHINGTON (AFP) – One woman flexed her biceps and performed pushups, another thumbed her rosary beads, and several danced energetic jigs. Incoming members of Congress will try anything, it seems, to win plum office suites on Capitol Hill.
Friday’s lottery for lawmakers-elect was a raucous, lighthearted bipartisan game of chance for a scarce commodity: a spacious, well positioned workplace in the House office buildings.
Eighty-five members of the incoming freshman class gathered to draw numbered chips from a box, with the thrill of victory going to Virginia Republican Ben Cline, whose lucky number one gave him first choice of available office space.
The event occurs every two years as a new class enters the House of Representatives.
Following a particularly tense 2018 in Washington, the lottery saw incoming lawmakers playfully letting off steam, as when Max Rose of New York bowed down and offered his head for fellow lawmakers-elect to rub for good luck.
But it is actually a high-stakes affair, as the difference between suites can be vast.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the liberal Democrat from New York, crossed herself and recited a Spanish-language nursery rhyme. (She picked number 40.)
Kim Shrier of Washington performed the popular “floss” dance, a social media sensation for kids. One congresswoman wore red slippers.
Serendipity smiled on soon-to-be congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who leapt around the room and offered high fives after drawing number eight.
“That’s how we do it in Detroit!” she proclaimed.
The agony of defeat was reserved for Tennessee’s Mark Green, who drew the dreaded number 85 – and a standing ovation from colleagues, perhaps out of relief that their numbers were better.