Democrats overwhelmingly nominate Pelosi as Speaker amid rebellion

Story by The Hill
Written by Mike Lillis

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) claimed victory on Wednesday, saying she had won the Democratic nomination for Speaker amid an entrenched rebellion from insurgent lawmakers who pose the starkest threat to her long reign atop the party.

The outcome was no surprise. Pelosi was running uncontested and enjoys widespread support within the liberal-heavy caucus she’s led since 2003.

The much higher bar will come in the first week of January, when the full House meets to choose the Speaker in a public vote requiring a majority of the entire voting chamber. It’s there that the insurgents feel they can block Pelosi’s ascension, even as Pelosi and her allies have projected nothing but confidence that she’ll retake the gavel she lost following the red wave elections of 2010.

Wednesday’s Speaker vote was conducted by private ballot in the Visitors Center of the Capitol. It was reflective of the unusual nature of this year’s leadership elections that there were written ballots at all.

Pelosi was running unchallenged for the Speaker nomination, and typically such races are decided by unanimous consent. This year, though, the clamor for casting a protest vote — particularly from incoming freshman who had promised voters to oppose Pelosi — was loud enough that party leaders offered paper ballots with a simple “yes/no” option on the question of whether Pelosi should be Speaker.


Nancy Pelosi just nominated as Speaker of the House (photo by Greg Nash)

Indeed, Pelosi herself had given lawmakers the green-light to vote against her in the closed ballot, with the idea that it may liberate them to vote “present” in the Jan. 3 floor vote, according to a Democratic lawmaker familiar with the discussions.

“Pelosi has released some members to vote no in caucus and then vote present on the House floor,” the lawmaker said Wednesday morning, before the voting began.

Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y) said that rebel members met with Pelosi before the vote in an effort "to engage her in a reasonable conversation about leadership transition," but were rejected.

"Unfortunately, our concerns were dismissed outright," she said in a statement.

Lawmakers cast their ballots just after a deal was announced between Pelosi and the Problem Solvers Caucus on changes to rules aimed at empowering rank-and-file lawmakers and breaking partisan gridlock.

Nine Democrats in the bipartisan, 48-member caucus had vowed to withhold their support for Pelosi — or any other Speaker nominee — unless the candidate commits, in writing, to the changes.

In the closed-door meeting, Pelosi was officially nominated by Rep. Joseph Kennedy (D-Mass.). A number of other Democrats then addressed the caucus to voice their support for the longtime leader, a list that included Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and John Lewis (D-Ga.), as well as Reps.-elect Angie Craig (Minn.) and Veronica Escobar (Texas).

Also in the room during Wednesday's vote was Pelosi's husband, Paul, who arrived separately.

Rep. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.), who endorsed Pelosi last week after initially signing a letter opposing her, said it was positive for Democrats to have a public debate about what direction their party should go -- and who should lead it.

"Democracy is a sloppy mess. ... There are a lot of differing views, even within the Democratic Caucus. The ability to pull that together is not clean and efficient all the time, and everyone has laid on the table what they are looking for," Higgins told reporters. "Everyone here, 435 members in the House, has one legislative tool and that is their vote."