Story highlights Democrats will be in the minority in the House and Senate

Reid, Pelosi will continue in leadership roles

Democrats on Capitol Hill are reeling after the midterm elections left them in the minority in both the House and Senate.

But don't expect new faces to lead the party after the brutal election.

Harry Reid, the Democratic leader in the Senate, and Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House, are both expected to keep their leadership positions next year despite the election's punishing losses. They're both hanging on with the same expectation: 2016 will be a better year for Democrats that could return them to the majority.

Pelosi, a California Democrat who was the first female House speaker, is already officially in the leadership race. In a letter to her colleagues on Wednesday, Pelosi said Election Night was "difficult" for Democrats but said there was more work for the party to do.

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Meanwhile, people close to Reid say he hopes to remain the Senate Democratic leader for many years and is readying a run for a 2016 re-election bid in Nevada to make sure that happens.

"He has no desire to be a lobbyist or put his feet up and watch TV, said Jon Ralston, a Nevada political journalist who tracks Reid closely. "He will not want to go out a loser and the 2016 map is much more favorable."

"Based on everything I know and based on what he's doing to get ready, I believe he's going to run in 2016," said Jim Manley, his former spokesman. "He's a guy who can't keep still and is a legislator at heart. I could see him continuing for a long time."

Reid has led the Senate Democrats since 2005 and Democrats have been in the majority eight of those years. Some Democrats privately grumble Reid could do more to work with Republicans to compromise on tough issues. But he remains popular with senators in his caucus, many of whom he helped get elected, and they are loyal to him for that.

Now as minority leader, Reid will have to be the face of the opposition. He and Sen. Mitch McConnell, who is in line to become majority leader, have a notoriously sour relationship and that's unlikely to change now that their positions are reversed.

But Manley said Reid might be willing to work with McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner, who leads the House Republicans, if they don't try to pass "extreme measures."

"It's going to be very difficult for Sen. McConnell to find the compromise necessary that brings along Democratic votes," Manley said. "At the end of the day, the President still has the veto pen, so if they want to get things done, they are going to have to deal."

Even before the election, Pelosi signaled that she was more focused on 2016 than 2014. Downplaying the midterms, Pelosi said her party would do "OK," but then immediately began taunting Republicans about 2016.

"Their days are numbered. I know that in two years, there will be a Democratic Congress and a Democratic president the House," Pelosi said.

But now that House Republicans have expanded their ranks to the largest GOP majority since the 1920's, Pelosi told her colleagues in her Wednesday letter that her party has to do a better job of boosting turnout. She said she planned to focus on a new project starting next week when Congress returns to increase voter participation.

The challenge for 2016 definitely got more formidable for Pelosi, but few expect the 74 year old Pelosi to slow down. She has been a relentless fundraiser ever since she joined House leadership, and the war chest she amassed for her Democratic colleagues helps her future job security.

In the 2014 election cycle, she raised more than $100 million for House Democrats, and personally was responsible for raising over one-third of $172 million that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised for the midterms. In the last two years, Pelosi traveled to 115 cities and attended or participated in 750 fundraising or campaign-related events.

Pelosi often points to one accomplishment in particular: House Democrats for the first time in 2012 became a caucus made up of more female and minority members than white men --a so called majority-minority caucus.

But the Democratic caucus that Pelosi joined in 1987 has changed dramatically and some of her closest allies in Congress retired this year. When fellow veteran California lawmakers George Miller and Henry Waxman announced they wouldn't run for re-election, there was some speculation that Pelosi may decide to step down.

Many of the members elected in the last two cycles are younger, and they respect Pelosi's political skills, but privately some of them say they would like to see some fresh faces at the leadership table. Pelosi's number two, Rep Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, and her number three, Rep Jim Clyburn, D-South Carolina --also in their seventies -- are expected to remain in their positions.

Pelosi will get to add a new voice to her leadership group when she picks the next chair of the DCCC. The current chair, Rep. Steve Israel, D-New York, said he doesn't want another turn at the job, and at least three mentioned for the post are younger than those already in leadership -- Rep. Jim Himes, D-Connecticut, and Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colorado, and Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Maryland.

With the loss of the few remaining moderate Democrats in the House, the caucus will skew more liberal. Pelosi publicly says she has a good relationship with House Speaker John Boehner, but there are few issues where the two are likely to come together to produce bipartisan legislation.

Pelosi hinted at her focus going into the next political cycle at a fundraiser featuring former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in late October.

"I am frequently introduced as the highest-ranking woman in political office in our country," Pelosi said. "I'd like to give up that title and elect a Democratic woman for President of the United States."

CORRECTION: An initial version of this story misquoted Jim Manley.