Nancy Pelosi Wins Re-Election as House Democratic Leader
Pelosi, who was challenged by Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, won 134-63
— -- Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi held onto her job leading House Democrats today as her caucus re-elected her to the position -- despite rumblings from inside and outside the caucus that change and fresh ideas may be needed after a disappointing November election.
The Democratic caucus voted 134-63 in favor of Pelosi.
Pelosi was challenged by Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), who has argued that younger members with a vision for expanding the party's economic message and geographical outreach is key to future electoral and legislative success. After the vote, Ryan said the Democratic caucus needs to come together.
The party's new leadership was chosen today in a private meeting using secret ballots. Current leaders decided to push back the voting amid the rumblings from some members that a pause, and possibly new leaders, could be good for their caucus.
Members elected a new Democratic leader, caucus chair, whip, and caucus vice chair, though only the leader and vice chair positions were currently contested.
Pelosi has led the House Democrats for 13 years. She was the first female speaker of the House, from 2007 to 2011, and she served as whip before then. In 2010, she defeated former Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC) to keep her seat after a wave of Tea Party members elected cost her party the majority in the House.
Rep. Linda T. Sánchez (D-CA) won vice-chair of the caucus; she is the first minority woman elected to House leadership. Sánchez is also chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Reps. Linda Sánchez and Barbara Lee had faced off for caucus vice chair -- both women of color and from California.
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) ran unopposed to keep his position as Democratic whip and Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) was chosen as the caucus chair after having served as vice chair.
After the November 8 election, about two dozen members signed a letter asking Pelosi to bump back the caucus’s leadership election. Even more grumbled that rushing into it looked tone deaf. Pelosi conceded that point, but was quick to announce that she enjoyed two-thirds of the caucus support. She also rolled out endorsements from MoveOn and other progressive groups.
Ryan said repeatedly that he thought Pelosi was inflating her support. Eleven members came out publicly to back him.
Just this week, Pelosi announced that she would include a representative from the freshmen class to serve as part of the House Democratic leadership, but she also renamed Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) to serve as chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee again, despite the fact that Democrats only picked up six seats this go-around and many in the party suggested it should be an elected position.
Several staff and members on the Hill rolled their eyes at the move, as the position could have been potentially an easy place for Pelosi to signal she is willing to make some changes.
Earlier this month, Ryan told ABC News, "Donald Trump is the president, that is how bad we are out of touch, that the backbone of our party went and voted for Donald Trump. And I say that’s our fault." He signaled a desire to reach out specifically to working class and blue collar voters in the Rust Belt.
"This election is not going to be won at fundraisers on the coasts," the Ohio Democrat told The Wall Street Journal last week. "It’s going to be won in union halls in the industrial Midwest and fish fries in the Midwest and the South."
His staff said he spent much of the Thanksgiving break making calls to his colleagues and they believed it would be a close race.
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), who backed Ryan, wrote in a statement, "At this critical juncture, we face a choice –- will we preserve a broken status quo or will we set our party on a new course?"
After the vote, Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH), one of the first to publicly back her Ohio colleague, said, "We did not lose today. We won. We have a caucus, we have leadership that has to listen to us."
Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR) expressed frustration over the selection of Pelosi.
"I am worried we just signed Democrats death certificate for next eight years," he said.
The White House has not formally weighed in. But, President Obama has praised Pelosi since the election, saying last week, "I cannot speak highly enough of Nancy Pelosi. She combines strong, progressive values with just extraordinary political skill."