House Democrats elected Nancy Pelosi to another term as minority leader on Wednesday, rejecting a challenge from Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, who called for a leadership shake-up after the party’s poor election performance.
Pelosi won with a little more than two-thirds of the vote, 134-63, a few weeks after she predicted that about two-thirds of the caucus would back her.
The early morning vote occurred in a House office building committee chamber. It was closed to the public and the media. Lawmakers made their choice via secret ballot. Pelosi’s victory came after a group of Democrats stood up and praised her as a strong leader who has kept the caucus united and who is “battle-tested, “seasoned,” and “tough.”
Pelosi, 76, has served as Democratic leader since 2003 and was speaker from 2007 until 2011, when Democrats briefly recaptured the majority. Her leadership has continued despite Democrats losing 60 House seats. Republicans have now run the House for most of the past two decades.
In January, Pelosi will embark on her 14th year at the helm of a Democratic Caucus that is marginalized in the minority for the third straight Congress, and will oversee a group of rank-and-file Democrats who are becoming more frustrated and eager for a path back the majority.
Ryan’s challenge, while unsuccessful, has underscored dissatisfaction within the ranks of the Democratic party, particularly among lawmakers from rust-belt states like Ryan’s, where President-elect Trump’s message resonated and the Democratic agenda fell flat.
Ryan accused the party of becoming “coastal” rather than national in representation, pointing out that few of the party’s leaders are from interior states.
But Democrats ultimately chose Pelosi, a popular and powerful party leader representing San Francisco, who is also a prolific fundraiser for incumbents and candidates.
“I think competition is healthy for the system and this has aired some issues that needed to be aired,” Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., who voted for Pelosi, said. “But we need stable leadership. With the impending Trump administration, Democrats need to be united and we need a true strategist. I think she’s held the Democratic Caucus together. I think we need to look at the leadership question later on. Right now I think we need stability and we need to regroup.”
Pelosi has acknowledged the dissatisfaction among some in the caucus by expanding the leadership team, but Ryan criticized the changes and said they “only serve to further consolidate her power over the Caucus.” Pelosi, in a Huffington Post interview, called Ryan’s criticism “almost pathetic.”
