Decimated Democrats Elect Gephardt, Gray to Top Jobs : House Posts Left Empty by Scandals

House Democrats, rebuilding their tattered leadership, elected former presidential contender Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri and Rep. William Gray of Pennsylvania to their No. 2 and No. 3 posts today.

Gephardt, 48, a seven-term congressman, defeated Rep. Ed Jenkins of Georgia for majority leader, the second-ranking House position after the Speaker, by a 181-76 vote in a closed meeting of the House Democratic Caucus.

Gray, 47, a Philadelphia preacher, was elected to the No. 3 post of Democratic whip in a three-way race. A former Budget Committee chairman who heads the Democratic Caucus, Gray is the first black to hold the high leadership position. He received 134 votes to 97 for Rep. David Bonior of Michigan and 30 for Rep. Beryl Anthony of Arkansas.

Ethics Scandals

The positions opened up as a result of the ethics scandals that have rocked the House and forced the resignations of former Speaker Jim Wright of Texas and Rep. Tony Coelho of California, who was the Democratic whip.

The majority leader’s post became vacant when Thomas Foley of Washington moved up and replaced Wright as speaker.

Gephardt made an unsuccessful bid for his party’s presidential nomination last year, winning the early Iowa caucuses but withdrawing from the race in March after a poor third-place showing in the Michigan caucuses.

It is generally believed that he still harbors White House aspirations, but in making his internal leadership bid he pledged to shelve them at least until after 1992.

Gray was regarded widely as the front-runner when he entered the race to succeed Coelho, but his campaign was threatened by reports that he was under FBI investigation over the possibility of a “ghost employee” in his office.

Gray insisted that he was not a target and on Tuesday, Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh’s office announced that he was not under investigation and was cooperating with the Justice Department.

The initial report that Gray was being investigated proved to be a two-edged sword. Some Democrats, still reeling from the Wright and Coelho cases, were reluctant to support a new leadership figure who might be at the center of another scandal. Other Democrats angrily charged that Gray was the victim of politically motivated leaks from the Justice Department and rallied to his side.