Before the end of the month, House Democrats will hold elections for contested chairmanships on several key committees. That means the gamesmanship for those seats which has been happening largely below the surface for months is finally breaking into the open.

Many eyes are on the race for the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The post opened up because current Chairman Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) lost his June primary race to a progressive challenger who highlighted his hawkish views. Critics of traditionally assertive U.S. foreign policy hope that shock loss spurs Democratic leadership and the new committee chief to use the post to advocate for a less-aggressive approach to global affairs that better reflects liberal values.

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) is the favored candidate among progressives, and on Friday, 47 groups working on national security and Democratic politics endorsed him in a joint letter shared exclusively with HuffPost.

Castro is competing for the position against two more senior and more traditional colleagues , Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Brad Sherman (D-Calif.).

Too often, the voices of those impacted by U.S. foreign policy are left out of the conversations in Washington. We believe Rep. Castro can protect our families and communities by promoting diplomacy and other nonviolent means rooted in cooperation to achieve U.S. foreign policy objectives, the Friday statement from Castros backers reads.

Prominent signees to the letter, which was organized by the Center for International Policy, include Justice Democrats, the Sunrise Movement, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Peace Action.

The Foreign Affairs Committee oversees the State Department and related agencies and helps shape the conversation about foreign policy in Washington particularly when the House of Representatives and the White House are controlled by the same party, as will be the case come January. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other top Democrats will deliberate and appoint the new chairperson during meetings the week of Nov. 30.

As Black, indigenous, and other communities of color face increased militarism at home, and as U.S. militarism abroad has led to disastrous endless wars, we are impressed with Rep. Castros transparent and engaging campaign for [committee] chair that focuses on the root causes of militarism, the signees wrote.

The organizations note that as chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Castro assertively challenged President Donald Trumps hard-line treatment of asylum-seekers and immigrants, traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border and repeatedly blasting the Department of Homeland Security.

The endorsement letter also highlights how anti-war activists and politicians have successfully pushed the broader Democratic Party towards a more dovish view of Americas role in the world through years of advocacy and high-profile wins .

Many of the positions the letter praises Castro for holding have gone from being perceived as politically risky to becoming mainstream among elected Democrats, like wanting to limit the presidents authority to wage war, supporting former President Barack Obamas nuclear accord with Iran, seeking to cut the Pentagon budget, questioning surveillance by national security officials, seeking troop withdrawals from Afghanistan and Iraq and opposing Saudi Arabias U.S.-backed intervention in Yemen.

That changing orthodoxy paradoxically makes it harder for Castro to win: Meeks and Sherman, his rivals, express many positions resembling his and have courted progressives in recent months. Though Castro has bolstered his profile in the press and during congressional hearings, Meeks remains the clear front-runner in the race, just as he was months ago, Capitol Hill sources say.