A new speaker for Democrats? Anti-Pelosi faction agitates, but others say leader will stay

“I have a hundred percent confidence we’re going to have new leadership,” said Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., who is helping lead the charge against Democrats’ longtime leader.

[Most Democrats don’t want Nancy Pelosi as speaker: Poll]

The Californian’s maintained a tight grip on her caucus for 16 years and is viewed as the best vote counter in a generation. Pelosi herself has expressed confidence that she will reclaim the speaker’s gavel, telling reporters a day after the election that she is 100 percent certain she’ll be elected to the top spot.

But Moulton and the small group of detractors are adamant that they have the numbers to deny her the speakership when the vote comes to the House floor in January. Pelosi’s opponents argue she is an “anchor” around the necks of candidates, and is putting new members in a “terrible position” by asking them to “break a campaign promise with their very first vote.” Moulton went so far as to claim that Democrats could have won “about 20 more seats” if Pelosi “hadn’t been a campaign issue” for candidates.

The anti-Pelosi faction is currently working on gathering signatures for a letter that will declare their plan to vote against her on the floor no matter what happens in the private caucus vote after Thanksgiving. When a speaker is elected, a secret ballot vote is held in the caucus first, and the candidate needs to only gain a simple majority of the caucus. Next the new Congress votes for the speaker and minority on the House floor in January. In that vote, Pelosi needs a majority of the House, 218 if every member votes. Republicans are expected to vote for a GOP candidate, but Pelosi could try to ask more moderate Republicans to vote present, lowering the number of votes she needs.

“The point of the letter is to accelerate this process so that it doesn’t spill out onto the floor,” said Moulton. “She’s the one who is trying to drive this to a floor vote. We want to make it clear before it comes to that that she should step aside.”

Pelosi’s opponents say they want a female member to replace her. Names that have been floated include Marcia Fudge of Ohio, Cheri Bustos of Illinois, and Karen Bass of California.

“I’m 100 percent certain that we’ve got the votes to have a new leader in 2019,” said Texas Democrat Filemon Vela, echoing Moulton. “Without question we’ll be looking for another female leader.”

A number of other members and Pelosi loyalists have voiced frustration with the tactics being used by the defectors, arguing it feeds Republican talking points and kicks off their time in the majority with a family brawl.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., worried that the anti-Pelosi contingent would “muck up everything” as they increase in number.

“She’s not going to step aside,” Cleaver said. “What many of us wanted to do was avoid the public acrimony.”

Pelosi’s dismissed those within her caucus calling for generational change, telling CNN in an interview published Tuesday that she has a “broad base of support in the country financially, politically, and otherwise, which is valuable to our caucus.”

“None of us is indispensable, but some of us are just better at our jobs than others,” she said.

Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., who thought the threats to Pelosi were stronger a month or two ago, say they’ve lost their momentum. No one can argue that she will be the face of the party in 2020 and a drag on candidates, Yarmuth said.

“It would be a slap on the face of a lot of those women voters and so many of those candidates if Nancy doesn’t get the gavel,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.

And as more seats swing toward Democrats, Pelosi’s path to the gavel becomes easier. Tuesday night, Democrats gained another House seat in California, bringing their total to 33 flipped seats. Out of the nine outstanding contests, at least four are trending toward Democrats.

“With each additional member her vote is probably increasing, and nobody counts better than Nancy Pelosi,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.