Congress Pelosi prevails The Democratic leader beat back a challenge from Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, but the vote reflected significant discontent.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi swept aside a challenge from Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan Wednesday to win another term atop the Democratic Caucus, ensuring continuity for Democrats despite their poor performance on Election Day.

Pelosi beat Ryan in a 134-63 vote, securing the two-thirds support within the caucus she had claimed earlier this month before Ryan officially jumped in the race.


Still, the loss of more than 60 members was a significant expression of discontent with the current leadership team. When Pelosi was challenged six years ago, 43 lawmakers voted for her opponent.

Separately, Rep. Linda Sánchez eked out a win over Rep. Barbara Lee in the race for vice chair of the caucus, no. 5 in the party's leadership ranks. The tally in the contest between the two Californians was 98-96.

Pelosi emerged from the closed-door caucus elections and told reporters she had a "special spring in her step" because of her opportunity to present a contrast with the Trump White House.

"We know how to win elections," she said, congratulating Ryan on his challenge. "We've done it in the past. We will do it again."

Pelosi faced criticism from multiple fronts in the run-up to the election, boosted by Ryan’s underdog challenge. Her decisive win is likely to quell some of the unrest among the rank-and-file. But tensions are still simmering behind the scenes, as members look ahead to another two years in the minority and Donald Trump moving into the White House.

"Clearly this didn't turn out the way we wanted it to,” Ryan said at a news conference after the vote. “We knew it was going to be an uphill battle." He added, “I'm proud of having 63 votes."

Pelosi had vocal support from multiple lawmakers leading up to the election, who said her longtime tenure would be an asset heading into an unprecedented period in Washington. They also pinned the party’s poor election on Hillary Clinton.

“Everything we care about [is] at risk,” California Rep. Adam Schiff said in his nominating speech for Pelosi. “We need the very best to lead us…No one is a better tactician than Nancy Pelosi.”

Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) added, “"The fact of the matter is many red-to-blue candidates were undone by the top of the ticket.”

When it was Ryan’s turn to speak, he praised Pelosi’s leadership but said it was time for “accountability” after multiple dismal election cycles.

"Everything we do should be about getting back in the majority,” Ryan said. He added he "bit his tongue" after the past three election cycles, but no more.

Ryan argued that the party had failed to deliver a compelling message to blue-collar voters like those in his Ohio district, which he won easily even as Hillary Clinton lost the area by a wide margin. He also earned the support of a slew of younger members frustrated at being frozen out of leadership.

Pelosi’s win means she’ll once again assume the mantle of a caucus firmly in the House minority after picking up just six seats in November's elections — far fewer than the party initially projected.

Republicans will hold a 241-194 edge in House seats, and they're preparing to hammer out an agenda with the incoming Trump administration.

Pelosi's aides largely dismissed Ryan's challenge, even as it rattled the caucus. Before Thanksgiving, her team suggested she had already lined up support from two-thirds of the Democratic caucus, and some Pelosi allies derided Ryan's long-shot bid as a precursor to a run for higher office in Ohio.

Now the focus shifts to rebuilding the fractured caucus and what message Democrats will seize on heading into the next Congress.

“We talk more about free-range chickens than we talk about working people,” said Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch, a Ryan supporter.

Ryan was nominated at the caucus meeting by Reps. Ed Perlmutter of Colorado and Marcia Fudge of Ohio, who insisted afterward that the challenge was necessary.

"We did not lose today, today we won,” she said. "We have now a leadership that listens to what we're saying."

Pelosi’s allies countered that dramatic changes to the caucus' approach were not in order, noting that Democrats picked up six seats despite losing the presidency.

"I don't think we need to beat ourselves up," said Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.).

Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland said Democrats' main failure was messaging and "ensuring voters fully understand that we're standing up for their economic interest."

But he added that House Democrats' meager gains were largely caused by outside forces, like Wikileaks and the FBI's investigation of Hillary Clinton.

"I don't think you can lay this ... just at the feet of our leadership," Cummings said.

Pointing to 75-year-old Bernie Sanders' performance among young voters, Cummings also rejected the notion that Pelosi, who is 76, and other House Democratic leaders are too old.

Incoming Rep. Charlie Crist, the former Florida governor, said Pelosi had already signaled willingness to incorporate new members into leadership. The caucus, he said, "is more united than ever before."

Republicans, meanwhile, were quick to mock Democrats’ decision to return Pelosi to power.

“What a relief,” tweeted Kellyanne Conway, the communications strategist for Trump. “I was worried they had learned from the elections & might be competitive and cohesive again."