Nancy Pelosi’s announcement comes at a tenuous time.  | Getty Pelosi beats back Democratic dissent

Nancy Pelosi is flexing her muscle as House Democrats’ longtime leader, moving to brush aside a fledgling rebellion in the ranks and reassert control of her caucus. 

An insurrection had been brewing, with Ohio’s Tim Ryan calling for a review of party leadership and a renewed focus on working-class voters after the Democrats suffered crushing swing-state losses on Election Day.  But Pelosi, a California Democrat and prodigious fundraiser, made clear on Wednesday that she could easily beat back Ryan’s challenge. 


Pelosi announced Wednesday she was running for reelection as House minority leader, sending a “Dear Colleague” letter to the 193 current and incoming members asking for their support but making clear she already had more than enough commitments to win. 

“It is with both humility and confidence that I write to request your support for House Democratic Leader.  As of this writing, I am pleased to report the support of more than two-thirds of the Caucus,” she wrote. 

Pelosi’s announcement comes at a tenuous time — she was forced to delay leadership elections after an uprising from rank-and-file members Tuesday.  But quickly announcing widespread support in the caucus could put to rest any rumors of a potential challenger and shows her standing remains strong despite this week’s internal turmoil. 

Ryan had floated the idea of challenging Pelosi for the top Democratic post but has yet to formally declare a run.  Ryan or anyone else knocking off Pelosi was a long shot even before her announcement Wednesday. 

“Frankly, I think he’s flattered by the attention that he’s gotten,” Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) said. “ But he knows how to count too.” 

Pelosi has a loyal following among the Democratic Caucus, which she has led for 14 years.  She is a powerhouse fundraiser, having brought in $568 million since entering Democratic leadership in 2002.  She’s also well known for her ability to whip votes and keep her caucus in line. 

But those strengths are sometimes criticized as weaknesses.  Members privately complain that Pelosi has accumulated so much power that she has effectively become the entire leadership team.  And other lawmakers have wondered in recent days how much her fundraising ability matters if they pick up just a handful of seats in elections. 

House Democrats grappled with their Election Day drubbing in a Wednesday morning meeting, trying to come to terms with why they gained only six seats after months of bragging about the potential for double-digit gains. 

Nearly 130 members attended the meeting, and several described the huddle as much calmer than the strained caucus meeting the day before, when several rank-and-filers successfully pushed to have leadership elections delayed until Nov. 30. 

Multiple members described the meeting as more of a cathartic gripe session and not a referendum on any one leader, particularly Pelosi. 

“Everybody’s got to look in the mirror,” Larson said, noting that the same kind of “soul searching” occurred in 2010 after Democrats lost 63 seats and the majority. 

“This is not extraordinary,” Larson said. “ This happens after every election, at least every election since 2010.” 

But there’s definitely still angst within the caucus about the election and lawmakers’ ongoing leadership issues, even if members don’t want to publicly disparage Pelosi. 

Several members who emerged from Wednesday’s meeting described their sometimes contradictory conclusions.  They admitted to fundamentally misunderstanding the electorate, squeezing out their more moderate members and relying too heavily on a national message that wasn’t necessarily tailored to the needs of individual House districts.  But nearly all agreed Pelosi bears no blame for those failings and that she should remain Democratic leader. 

“I think she ought to be overwhelmingly brought back and stay and do the great work she’s already been doing,” said incoming Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), the former governor of the Sunshine State.  Crist noted that Democrats gained seats in the House while losing the White House to Republicans and missing a chance to retake the Senate. 

Retiring Rep. Steve Israel, who ran House Democrats’ campaign arm during the 2012 and 2014 elections, said Democrats failed on multiple fronts and were too heavily dependent on pollsters and analysts, rather than evaluating voter sentiments.  He also said Democrats imposed a national message onto local races where it didn’t work.  Most important, he said, Democrats had failed after previous wipeouts in recent years to assess their losses appropriately. 

“We can’t do an analysis of what went wrong with the same people and the same theories in Washington, D.C.,” he said. “ We need to go into those battleground districts, we need to figure out how does a Democrat get elected to the school board in an area that voted for Donald Trump. …  It’s going to take a shift of the thinking from sterile buildings here to the experts on the ground in those Trump neighborhoods who are winning as Democrats.” 

But Israel said that despite hand-wringing and feelings of despair, the Democratic Party might be stronger now than it was before last week’s mauling. “ There is a sense that, ironically, we’re on more solid political ground than we were one week and a day ago, because the president’s party always suffers losses in the midterm,” he said. “ So we’ve got to exploit that.” 

Moderate Democrats griped that the party’s message had moved too far away from its “big tent” mind-set. 

“Where are all the liberal seats we need to win the majority?  It’s not there,” said Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas. “ You can’t go with that message, with that strategy.  People like myself, the blue dogs, we’re the ones that built the majority for her to become speaker.  I’ll work with liberals, but again, keep in mind, there are not liberal-leaning seats that we need to hold to win the majority.” 

Still, moderate Democrats said they still expected Pelosi to win reelection — and possibly without a challenge. 

“When you get close to election time, you’ll see who’s at the starting gate.  I would not be surprised if there is no one there except Nancy,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey.