Racial Justice Group Backs Geoffrey Stark for FCC Chairman

(Bloomberg) -- A racial justice group Friday urged President-elect Joe Biden to choose Geoffrey Starks, a Black Democratic member of the Federal Communications Commission, as the agency’s next chairman.

Color of Change, a civil rights group, cited a record of advocating for Black communities by Starks, who joined the FCC in 2019.

Starks is junior to fellow Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who is White. She took office in 2012 and is widely considered to be a leading candidate for the chair, a powerful post with control over the agency and its staff.

She would be the first woman named FCC chair, other than a Democrat who served as acting chairwoman in 2013.

Representatives of the Biden transition team didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The endorsement of Starks Friday is a glimpse of behind-scenes lobbying for the post, and it reflects demands by minority groups for representation in Biden’s administration.

Starks “has demonstrated and recently reaffirmed his commitment to digital equity,” Color Of Change President Rashad Robinson said in an emailed statement. “The Biden-Harris Administration must ensure that regulatory agencies like the FCC are steered by people who reflect the communities most impacted by the policy decisions they dictate.”

Rosenworcel too has gathered backing. The Communications Workers Union of America in December announced its support. The National Education Association, with three million members, supports her candidacy, President Becky Pringle said in an emailed statement.

Rosenworcel’s “long-standing work to close the digital divide and help connect students for education makes her the right choice to lead the FCC right now,” Pringle said. “She has championed providing all students internet access no matter who they are or where they live.”

The FCC chairperson is designated by the president from among FCC members.

Biden will have the opportunity to nominate a third Democrat to serve on the five-member commission because one seat will fall open with the Jan. 20 departure of Republican Chairman Ajit Pai.

Pai’s departure will leave the FCC at a 2-to-2 partisan tie until another Democrat arrives. That leaves the chair likely lacking votes for major initiatives until a third Democrat clears the Senate.

Democrats are expected to pursue net neutrality rules that would forbid broadband providers from interfering with rivals’ web traffic, and could look warily upon proposed mergers.

Before becoming commissioner Starks, 40, served in the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau and at the Department of Justice.

Starks graduated from Harvard College and Yale Law School, according to his biography page on the FCC’s website.

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