Instead, Trump swept previous Democratic strongholds in the industrial Midwest and fortified Republican candidates down ballot, particularly House GOP incumbents in suburban districts that had been key targets in Pelosi’s political strategy. With just two races left uncalled, Democrats have picked up just six seats, a crushing underperformance for what many lawmakers had been expecting.

AD

AD

“There is broad angst in the Democratic caucus,” Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.), who supported the decision to delay the elections, told reporters. “To stick with the same message over four bad election cycles is a mistake,” Neal said. “I think part of it is that the messengers have to change.”

Pelosi, who served as the top House Democrat for 14 years, still has no public challenger and remains the heavy favorite to beat back any challenger given her strong standing with female lawmakers, the growing ranks of progressives and within her own state.

She had originally planned the leadership elections for Nov. 30, but then after last week’s defeat, her leadership team moved up the elections to Thursday, prompting a backlash from rank-and-file Democrats who have been calling for more soul searching.

AD

AD

A standard adage in congressional leadership elections is that “speed kills,” and the shorter an election season, the more likely the incumbents and favorites are to win.

Pelosi, speaking during a closed-door caucus, portrayed herself as willing to hold the elections whenever the caucus wanted.

“I don’t care. I’m agnostic,” she said, according to the notes of a senior staffer inside the Capitol basement meeting room. “I was ready to go with after Thanksgiving because I didn’t want the new members to be spending all their time worrying about who they are going to vote for — for this, that or the other thing. Then, many of the members were saying: ‘Why are you delaying the elections?’ And the press was picking that up. ‘Why are you delaying the elections?’ I’m not delaying it.”

AD

As Tuesday’s meeting began, Democratic leaders initially told the caucus that they were going ahead with the elections on Thursday, according to lawmakers and staff, but there could be a vote then to delay them until after Thanksgiving.

AD

Then the meeting went on and on, and it became clear that there was enough turbulence that the elections would have to be delayed. Rep. Marci Kaptur (D-Ohio) told reporters that she told her colleagues that there are many parts of the country — like the Midwest — that do not have a seat at the leadership table, leaving their views and their constituents out of the agenda-setting meetings.

Kaptur has signed a letter supporting Pelosi as leader, along with more than 40 female Democrats, but said Tuesday she is open to other options if someone from her region were to run.

AD

“Obviously if someone from our region were to get in the race, I would have to reconsider,” Kaptur said.

While it’s not the end of her leadership reign, Pelosi rarely suffers these uprisings. Six years ago, after the Democrats lost their majority in a historic rout when they lost 63 seats, Pelosi beat back a challenge from some antagonists to delay her election as minority leader.

AD

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), from his state’s working-class regions in eastern Ohio, has publicly suggested that he might run for a top leadership post. His potential candidacy has gained support in the ranks of Midwestern Democrats who saw their party’s agenda focus heavily on Trump’s cultural positions in the final months of the campaign, only to watch Trump successfully win over many blue-collar workers with a jobs-themed message that promised to reopen closed factories.

AD

House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said Democrats need to move beyond just blaming their recent electoral losses on GOP-friendly redistricting and consider how to rethink its message. “We need to make sure we focus like a laser on jobs,” he said.

Hoyer said the conversation will likely include serious debate about making changes to committee leadership. House Democrats currently assign top committee slots to members with the highest seniority, and those members are allowed to keep their jobs indefinitely. A growing number of young and recently elected rank-and-file Democrats is pushing to change the rules to impose term limits that would allow members to advance more quickly within party ranks.

AD

Pelosi has supported such efforts in the past, but that’s created another well of bad relations with the Congressional Black Caucus, which supports the party’s long-standing traditions of seniority for choosing top committee assignments without any limit on their term.

AD

The group of Midwestern Democrats and the CBC, longtime exiles from Pelosi’s inner circle, received a boost in recent years as a large contingent of younger Democrats has joined the caucus. This next generation, led by Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), 38, a former Marine Corps officer, has grown frustrated by repeated defeats every two years and the continued reelection of a trio of 70-something Democrats to the top posts: Pelosi, 76, Hoyer, 77, and Rep. James E. Clyburn (S.C.), the 76-year-old who holds the No. 3 leadership post.

Rep. Ruben Gallego, (D-Ariz.), who won his second term last week, said the delay will allow members time to make sure leaders understand what changes members want to see enacted in the coming months. “We don’t want to rush to a leadership vote for them to think everything is business as usual,” Gallego, 36, said. “Everything is not good. Business as usual is not going to work.”