Battles emerging behind Pelosi
in January. She said simply:
“Yes, I am.”
Yet ascent of the California Democrat is nowhere near guaranteed. Many younger House Democrats, including some of the newly elected, have pledged to vote against her. They are reluctant to shout the name “Pelosi” when the cameras zoom in during the first roll call of Congress, fearful of the attack ads that will be launched against them.
Pelosi is likely to win first-round voting later this month to become leader, when she needs half of
House Democrats to support her.
But becoming speaker requires a majority of the full House, 218 votes, and her slim majority — now at 222 — leaves her little cushion.
It’s not just her. Pelosi heads a trio of septuagenarian leaders, with Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer and Assistant Leader Jim Clyburn, who have held power since the last time Democrats took back the House majority, in 2006. Each is poised to move up a slot.
Democrats who want new leadership have been whispering about it for weeks, and on Wednesday, several Pelosi opponents announced their intent to run for the top posts.
“I’ve been saying for a long time that the Democratic Party leadership is in dire need of change,” wrote Rep. Filemon Vela of Texas, one of two who wants to run for the No. 3 job of chief vote-counter. “Ya es tiempo de un cambio!” he echoed his statement in Spanish. Another Democrat, Rep. Diana Degette of Colorado, also jumped into the whip’s race.
Both candidacies are a direct affront to Clyburn, the highest-ranking African-american in Congress, who is in line to become the whip. He announced his bid Wednesday, pledging to “make America’s greatness apply fairly and equitably to all Americans.”
Three others announced their runs for assistant leader, the new No. 4 post, including Rep. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, the chairman of the campaign committee who helped lead his colleagues to the majority.
So far, though, no one has mounted a serious direct challenge to Pelosi, and some are reluctant to take on the first female speaker after an election that brought a record number of women to the polls and to the House.