Mr. Green, who won his current position with 60 percent of the vote, is the highest-ranking Democrat in a citywide office.

He served as majority whip, or the second highest-ranking Democrat from 1971 to 1977.

Still, even though he was one of the highest-ranking Democrats in the state, his network of financial supporters was thin.

Senator Tom Daschle, the highest-ranking Democrat in Washington, certainly thinks so.

Moreover, a majority of the Finance Committee, including two of the four highest-ranking Democrats, voted to kill the plan.

He is one of the highest-ranking elected Democrats in New York.

The President's call endorsed earlier demands by Republicans for an independent counsel to head the ethics committee's inquiry into the actions of the nation's highest-ranking Democrat.

She will become the highest-ranking Democrat to date to support the Republican incumbent.

Mr. Cranston is his party's whip, the second highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate.

This is an attempt to discredit Jim Wright, the highest-ranking Democrat in the nation today.