Former prosecutor Kathleen Rice is the first to publicly announce support for Ryan. | Getty New York Democrat Rice supports Tim Ryan's bid to unseat Pelosi

New York Democrat Kathleen Rice is backing Tim Ryan's bid to unseat Nancy Pelosi as the top House Democrat, becoming the first member of her caucus to openly do so.

"I have great respect for Leader Pelosi and for all that she’s done for our caucus, our party and the American people. I also believe the results of this election demand that we look honestly and critically at ourselves and think about the changes we need to make in order to be an effective opposition party and ultimately get back into the majority," Rice said in a statement on Sunday.


She added: "Right now, Tim Ryan is the one person who’s starting those tough conversations that so many of us wanted our entire caucus to have. He’s the one forcing us to ask the tough questions about our party’s future, and he’s the one providing real answers. For all of those reasons, Tim Ryan has my complete support, and I will do everything I can to ensure that he leads our caucus through the critical years ahead.”

Rice recently won her second term in the House. She is a former Nassau County district attorney and federal prosecutor.

Ryan, an Ohio Democrat who was first elected to the House in 2002, announced his challenge to Pelosi on Thursday. Pelosi has been the House Democratic leader for the past 14 years, and the California lawmaker says she already has two-thirds of the caucus lined up to support her, but Ryan disputes that assessment.

After the disappointing results for the party on Election Day — House Democrats picked up only a handful of seats, after Pelosi and other top party leaders predicted double-digit gains — there has been dissension among rank-and-file Democrats about their message and strategy. Ryan and some other junior members say that Democrats cannot win back the House with Pelosi in charge. Pelosi noted that she won the House in 2006 and said she knows how to do it again.

Democratic leadership elections will be held Nov. 30.

