Pelosi has ‘candid’ talk with potential rival for speaker
WASHINGTON — Nancy Pelosi met privately Friday with her top potential rival for House speaker, Rep. Marcia Fudge, as the Democratic leader works to gather support and fend off a challenge from a small but persistent group determined to stop her from reclaiming the gavel.
Fudge said the two had “a very open and frank discussion,” including about “the feeling in the caucus of people who are feeling left out and left behind” and the need for a transition to new leadership.
“We talked about some succession planning,” Fudge told reporters. “She did not share them with me. But I think it is something our caucus is interested in knowing.”
The Democratic leader and the Ohio Democratic congresswoman met in Pelosi’s stately office, steps from the House floor, for about 45 minutes as lawmakers left town for the Thanksgiving recess without a resolution to the leadership struggle.
“We had a candid and respectful conversation,” Pelosi said. Fudge said she shared with Pelosi “the growing support that I have and why I’m considering a bid to run for speaker.”
Democrats are expected to take an internal caucus vote when they return after Thanksgiving and Fudge said she would decide by then if she is running.
“To her credit, she wanted to know what my concerns were. We discussed them,” Fudge said.
If it was up to most of the Democratic Party, Pelosi would be the obvious choice to become speaker of the House in the new Congress, when Democrats have the majority. But within the ranks there’s a small but persistent group pushing to topple her return as the first woman with the gavel. Some say it’s time to give younger lawmakers a chance to rise.