Pelosi has little room to negotiate on votes for speaker

WASHINGTON — At least 15 Democrats resisting Nancy Pelosi’s speaker bid are holding firm in their opposition and say they plan to vote for someone other than the California Democrat during the Jan. 3 speaker election, providing Pelosi with little room to negotiate a victory.

With the House poised to have 235 Democrats seated on the opening day of the 116th Congress when the speaker election takes place, Pelosi can only afford to have 17 Democrats vote and say a name that is not hers to meet the 218-vote majority threshold.

That leaves her with a two-vote margin of error to work with as she tries to flip other opponents into “yes” votes — unless she can persuade some to vote “present” or abstain from voting, further lowering the 218 threshold.

Roll Call has spoken to 14 Democrats or their aides who say they are firmly opposed to Pelosi and will be saying someone else’s name on the floor. This reporter is also including in the firmly opposed camp Tennessee Rep. Jim Cooper, whose office could not be reached for comment, as he has voted for someone other than Pelosi, most often Colin Powell, in every speaker election since at least 2011.

There are at least four other Democrats (in addition to the aforementioned 15 firm opponents) who’ve said they won’t vote for Pelosi on the floor but haven’t explicitly ruled out voting “present.”

“Present” votes and nonvoting members don’t count toward the vote total that is used to determine the majority threshold. Every member who abstains from voting in the speaker election or votes “present” is effectively a half-vote for Pelosi since two such votes would lower the majority threshold she needs to reach by one vote.

Potential “present” votes Rep.-elect Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey is among the 32 Democrats who voted “no” on Pelosi in a caucus ballot last month that asked whether members supported her as the party’s speaker nominee. He told reporters after the vote that he hasn’t ruled out voting “present” on the floor.

“The only thing I know for sure is I will not be voting for her,” Van Drew said. “That is a commitment, a pledge and a promise that I made to the people who live in my district. I ran on it as part of my campaign promise, and I’m not going to break that.”

Aides to Rep. Linda T. Sanchez of California and Rep.elect Anthony Brindisi of New York confirmed their bosses also remain opposed to Pelosi but declined to say whether they were open to voting “present.”

“Her position hasn’t changed from the letter she signed,” Sanchez spokesman Alex Nguyen said, referring to a letter initially signed by 16 Democrats calling for new leadership and saying they would vote that way in caucus and on the floor.