Josh Gottheimer didn’t raise tens of millions of dollars, carefully cultivate home-state political allies and spend more than a decade burnishing a bipartisan “problem solver” reputation to be sending out news releases about his choices for the annual congressional student art competition.

Yet that’s where the 51-year-old New Jersey Democrat finds himself, 166th in House seniority and suddenly plotting his next act in politics.

Losing last year’s Democratic primary for governor was just the start of it. He’s also no longer atop the high-profile caucus of centrist lawmakers he co-founded, and his brand of pro-business, pro-Israel politics is decidedly on the outs inside his own party.

And yet: Gottheimer is showing no sign of letting go of his political career — or his relevance on Capitol Hill — anytime soon.

Since losing the gubernatorial nomination to former colleague Mikie Sherrill, he has thrown himself into crash bipartisan efforts to extend expiring Obamacare tax credits, end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown and limit the Trump administration’s authority in Iran.

He is leading a coalition to shape House Democrats’ stance on artificial intelligence policy, meeting with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman last week. He has positioned himself as a leading voice in the caucus against antisemitism and against the party’s leftward turn — leading a recent media crusade against progressive influencer Hasan Piker, for instance. He’s also known to have the ear of Minority Leader — and potential speaker — Hakeem Jeffries.

“When you've tried to move out of the House and then come back to it, sometimes I think the best path forward is to say, ‘This is where I'm a good fit, and I need to be a leader here, and I can have a long career here,’” said former White House chief of staff John Podesta, a friend of Gottheimer’s dating back to their days together in President Bill Clinton’s administration.

Longtime observers of his ladder-climbing ways — including many of his House colleagues — may have a hard time buying it, but Gottheimer insisted in a series of interviews he’s interested in making the most of the perch he has.

“I'm very concerned with parts of the direction of the party, and to make sure that we keep the party from going off a cliff — I take that part seriously,” he said. “I know my colleagues won't agree with me on everything, and I'm seen as one of the more centrist, commonsense members. I think it's a very important part of the party to hold on to and to make sure we don't get captured by Democratic socialists.”

Gottheimer does not have a high-level leadership position from which to espouse that view. But he has never lacked for a platform, and he said he’s ready to play Whac-A-Mole to beat back forces who would pull the party hard left.

“Who the hell knows?” he said of what, or who, he might push back on next. “These things just pop up.”

“But I know that I can have a lot of influence in making sure that we legislate the right way,” he added, “and stopping things from going the wrong way.”

For evidence of Gottheimer’s political savvy, look no further than the fact that in a year where scores of old-school, dealmaking Democrats are facing progressive primary challenges, he ran unopposed for renomination and is set to easily win a sixth term representing New Jersey’s affluent northern tip.

Likely intimidating potential challengers is Gottheimer’s massive campaign war chest: He has over $11 million in his coffers, even after spending $9 million on his run for governor. But he also knows what animates his constituents, many of whom have direct or indirect ties to the financial industry or are otherwise pro-business.

“The more progressive voices in our district are not always enchanted with Josh,” Loretta Weinberg, a former majority leader of the New Jersey Senate who lives in Gottheimer’s district, said in an interview. “But the mainstream Democrats here, I think, are pretty satisfied with his representation.”

Gottheimer’s ability to keep his ear to the ground and make unlikely allies has also served him well on Capitol Hill. He’s part of an increasing rare breed of Democrats who maintains serious friendships and working relationships across the aisle.

Those include Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who served six years in the House with Gottheimer and whose families have grown close enough that their teenage daughters are co-authoring a book together about bipartisanship.

“Josh and I might not agree on every issue, but he’s a friend,” Mullin said during his confirmation hearing, at which Gottheimer sat in the front row.

And while progressives have often bristled at Gottheimer’s unapologetic moderation and abrasive style, key leaders on the left give him credit for being an honest and accessible sparring partner.

Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, publicly confronted Gottheimer in 2023 during a closed-door meeting where Hamas’ attack on Israel was discussed. But Casar struck a more diplomatic tone in an interview, noting Gottheimer attended a recent CPC meeting to update members on the AI commission’s work.

“Josh and I have our differences, but we have a good rapport,” Casar said.

Gottheimer’s most important alliance, however, is with Jeffries — one that has its origin in their work together to advance the 2018 First Step Act, a criminal justice reform bill led by Jeffries that passed with bipartisan support. The pair later teamed up on a controversial PAC aimed at defending incumbent Democrats from left-wing primary challengers; they both also maintain friendly ties with AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby group that is increasingly toxic to Democratic voters.

Jeffries described Gottheimer as a “friend” in an interview, said the two speak “regularly” and predicted he would remain a leading voice on AI matters in a Democratic majority. Jeffries has also appointed him to a coveted spot on the House Intelligence Committee, and his GOP relationships could come in handy should Democrats win the majority and Jeffries seizes the speaker’s gavel.

“Josh is a get-stuff-done force of nature who can strongly agree to disagree with a whole host of folks, while still maintaining an excellent interpersonal relationship,” Jeffries said. “That's a very valuable trait to have in an institution like the House.”

Gottheimer’s relationship to his longtime power center — the Problem Solvers Caucus, which he launched in 2017 with then-Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) — is more complicated. The group helped nudge along bipartisan bills in the Trump and Biden administration — notably delivering the decisive votes on a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill — but has since been racked with internal tensions.

A particularly explosive moment came during the 2023 GOP fight over the speaker’s gavel. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), the Problem Solvers co-chair, wanted Democrats to join most Republicans and save Kevin McCarthy from being ousted. They did not, and Fitzpatrick fumed over the split.

More recently, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) quit as a vice chair of the group after Democrats abandoned her bill to advance the Smithsonian National Women’s History Museum when anti-transgender language and other controversial provisions were attached.

She said she personally gets along well with Gottheimer and other caucus members, but that “when we need their vote, they're nowhere to be found.”

Gottheimer insists that the “gang is back together” now and there “is still a need” for the caucus to broker deals in the House, even as redistricting threatens its core set of bipartisan dealmakers. New York Rep. Tom Suozzi, the current Democratic co-chair, said he expected Gottheimer to be an “influential” voice in the group on issues such as affordability, AI and antisemitism.

“I think that I'm focused on getting things done, and I think that Josh is really focused on getting things done,” he said.

That kind of verbiage is common inside the Problem Solvers group, and especially with Gottheimer, who sat in his office recently and expounded on his pragmatic post-gubernatorial-campaign approach to the House.

“I mean, for now, I just want to be positioned to get shit done and to be helpful that way,” he said.

“Get shit done” also happens to be the trademark of another early-50s Democratic politician with a remarkably similar background: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro shares Jewish heritage and a moderate ideological bent with Gottheimer in addition to a first name.

With Shapiro occupying top-tier status in the developing 2028 Democratic presidential race, there’s speculation that Gottheimer could find a new outlet for his considerable ambitions somewhere in the executive branch. Podesta said he has a “combination of skills” that would make him valuable to any Democratic administration.

But Gottheimer insisted in an interview his focus is squarely on the House — where he sees himself as uniquely positioned as a bulwark against the party’s leftward impulses.

“I know I would have been a governor who got shit done, and my name would be Josh,” he said on the Shapiro comparison. “Listen, I think that I learned a lot from that race, and I'm taking what I learned that race and putting it to work right now. … I came back really refocused and re-energized in Congress.”