Democrat Evan Morris has been heading the Swiss drug maker’s Washington office. But Roche’s purchase of Genentech in March sparked a battle for control of the soon-to-be-combined office, pitting Morris against Genentech’s Heidi Wagner, a Republican.

Morris is expected to be officially named on Wednesday.

The move was welcomed by congressional Democrats, who were aggravated that Roche would consider installing a Republican, particularly in an industry that lacks Democrats in top spots.

“There had to be a definitive reason to make a change, and there wasn’t a good reason,” said a senior House Democratic aide. “The bottom line is that it sends a good message that the pharmaceutical companies are willing to listen and learn and work in a bipartisan way.”

It’s helpful to be able to reach out to industry lobbyists who understand Democratic priorities and thinking, said a chief of staff for a senior Democratic congressman on a key health subcommittee.

“The hope is that it sends a message to the rest of the pharmaceutical community that this is the route they should be taking,” the top aide said. “When there are openings, they should be looking hard at hiring Democrats who are friendly with folks in leadership on the Hill.”

Wagner began notifying friends Tuesday that she did not get the job, sources said. She did not return requests for comment.

Genentech spokeswoman Megan Pace said the company does not comment on staffing speculation, “but I can assure you that Heidi Wagner is highly valued by the company’s leadership.”

A Roche spokesman referred a call to Pace, and Morris declined comment.

When Roche began calling the offices of key lawmakers to ask about the duo’s performance, Democrats were dumbfounded as to why the company would even consider putting a Republican in charge of a shop already run by a Democrat, particularly when Democrats now control both chambers of Congress and the White House.

Indeed, earlier this month, the in-house lobbying operations of at least eight of the nation’s largest drug makers were run by Republicans: Abbott Laboratories, Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Genzyme and AstraZeneca.

In March, GlaxoSmithKline was wrestling with whether to put a Democrat or Republican in charge and still has not made a decision, according to industry insiders.