Pelosi survives as Democratic leader
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday swept aside a challenge to her Democratic leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives by a congressman from a blue-collar district who warned the party has lost touch with working-class Americans.
Pelosi, 76, retained her post as minority leader after an anxious closed-door vote in which she survived a challenge from Congressman Tim Ryan of Youngstown, Ohio, to extend her 13-year grip on party control in the chamber.
“Honored to be elected by my colleagues to serve as Democratic Leader. Let’s get to work,” Pelosi said on Twitter after winning the internal party vote 134 to 63.
Ryan, 43, had drawn support from Democrats discouraged by their party’s loss in the November 8 presidential election and their failure to gain back many seats in Congress.
A seven-term lawmaker, Ryan put himself forward as a new-generation leader of a party caucus that stands accused of having forgotten working-class voters, many of whom helped elect the anti-establishment billionaire Donald Trump to the White House.
Pelosi, who backed Democrat Hillary Clinton in the presidential race, remains a powerful figure, having made history in 2007 by becoming the first female speaker of the House.
But the tally of 63 defectors voting against her suggests her grip on the leadership is weakening. Ryan said he was “disappointed” by the result but felt optimistic that his message connected with colleagues.
“As Democrats, we need to talk about the economy. It’s the issue that unites us,” he said after the vote.
“I believe it in my heart that if we’re going to win as Democrats, we need to have an economic message that resonates in every corner of this country.”
Pelosi appeared to acknowledge the growing sense that her party has lost its connection to working men and women across large swathes of the country, where millions of struggling Democrats and undecided voters turned to Trump’s populist anti-establishment message.
It is vital for Democrats to prove, she said, that “never again will we have an election where there’s any doubt in anyone’s mind where the Democrats are when it comes to America’s working families.”
Republicans have long mocked Pelosi for pushing her party into what they call “irrelevance,” a message they repeated Wednesday.
“This year voters went to the polls and made a bold statement for change in Washington, but House Democrats just doubled down on the status quo,” Republican National Committee co-chair Sharon Day said in a statement.