House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is likely to become Speaker of the House for the second time when the new Democratic majority is seated in January.

There is one obstacle in Pelosi’s way: A much-publicized bid, mounted by a breakaway group of Democrats seeking to end Pelosi’s reign as leader of the House Democrats, a position she has held since 2003. Their effort, however, met a setback on Tuesday when Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH), who was at one point put forward as this opposition group’s choice to repeal and replace Pelosi, announced she would be backing Pelosi instead.

BREAKING … MARCIA FUDGE, who flirted w a speaker run, announces she’s backing Pelosi. pic.twitter.com/W6s8m3zKr3 — Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 20, 2018

What a start to Thanksgiving week for Leader Pelosi. Tim Ryan/Moulton wing continues to struggle to recruit a challenger.

And Ocasio-Cortez knocks that wing, lifting Pelosi w/ left.

Big donors are calling members on her behalf.

Obama heaps praise on her.

Fudge drops & endorses. — Robert Costa (@costareports) November 20, 2018

The anti-Pelosi faction has not come up with an alternative to Fudge since the Ohio Congresswoman made her decision.

On Monday, a long-rumored letter of Democratic opposition to Pelosi, who has served in Congress since 1987, was released with the signatures of 16 House Democrats.

Hey Meet the Sweet Sixteen! The good folks who signed the anti-Pelosi letter. pic.twitter.com/jYiWk6gCdB — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) November 20, 2018

Of those 16, only 11 are currently serving in Congress. The remaining five include three Democrats who were just elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in the recent midterm elections, and two other Democrats hoping to join this freshman class of lawmakers, whose races had not yet been called at the time of this writing.


Of the 11 who are currently serving, 10 have voted with President Donald Trump more frequently than Pelosi, who was recently rated as one of the most progressive members of the House by Mother Jones.

According to FiveThirtyEight’s congressional Trump tracker, Pelosi has voted with the Republican president 19.3 percent of the time. Here are how the House Democrats who oppose her stack up.

Rep. Jim Cooper (TN): 38 percent

Jim Cooper at the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee on October 19, 2017. (Jason Davis/WireImage for The Recording Academy)

Cooper represents the 5th congressional district that contains Nashville, a reliably Democratic D+7 area per the Cook Partisan Voting Index, which “measures how each district performs at the presidential level compared to the nation as a whole.”

Despite this, the nine-term congressman has supported Trump’s policies nearly 40 percent of the time, including backing “Kate’s Law” to increase penalties for undocumented immigrants who re-enter the U.S. and a failed push to add a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.


Cooper also voted present, a legislative tactic to avoid making a decision, on a bill supporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and denouncing calls for its abolishment.

Rep. Kurt Schrader (OR): 31.5 percent

Kurt Schrader at a news conference on Capitol Hill on May 19, 2015. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Schrader represents the 5th congressional district on the state’s central coast, in which voters supported Trump in 2016 after backing President Barack Obama in 2012 and 2008.

The six-term congressman has voted with the GOP president almost a third of the time, including on bills to roll back financial regulations put in place after the Great Recession and make conceal-carry gun permits legal across state lines.

Rep. Stephen Lynch (MA): 30 percent

Stephen Lynch speaks on Capitol Hill on April 12, 2018. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Lynch has supported Trump’s agenda almost a third of the time despite representing the 8th congressional district near Boston that favors Democrats by double-digits (D+10) in Cook’s ratings.

The nine-term congressman voted for “Kate’s Law” and the bill supporting ICE.

Rep. Kathleen Rice (NY): 28.9 percent

Kathleen Rice at a news conference on Capitol Hill on November 16, 2017. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Rice represents the D+4 4th congressional district on Long Island. The two-term congresswoman has voted with Trump nearly 30 percent of the time.


Rice supported the effort to roll back Dodd-Frank regulations put in place after the Great Recession. She also voted present on the pro-ICE bill.

Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO): 27.2 percent

Ed Perlmutter at a news conference on Capitol Hill on May 9, 2012. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Perlmutter’s 7th congressional district near Denver is rated as a safe D+6 area by Cook.

However, the seven-term congressman has supported Trump over a quarter of the time, including backing the GOP’s omnibus spending bill. He also voted present on the pro-ICE bill.

Rep. Filemón Vela (TX): 23.6 percent

Filemón Vela on Capitol Hill on September 17, 2014. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Vela represents the heavily-Hispanic 34th congressional district that contains Corpus Christi and is rated as D+10 by Cook.

Despite this, the four-term congressman has supported Trump’s agenda nearly a quarter of the time, also backing the rollback of Dodd-Frank financial regulations.

Rep. Bill Foster (IL): 22 percent

Bill Foster leaves Capitol Hill on November 16, 2017. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Foster’s 11th congressional district, which includes Joliet, is rated as D+9 by Cook.

But the five-term congressman has voted in line with Trump 22 percent of the time, also backing the repeal of Dodd-Frank financial regulations. Foster voted present on the pro-ICE bill.

Rep. Seth Moulton (MA): 22 percent

Seth Moulton at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts on May 7, 2017. (Keith Bedford/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Moulton, who represents the D+6 6th congressional district north of Boston, has been the most outspoken Democrat in opposition to Pelosi’s leadership.

The three-term congressman has supported Trump’s agenda 22 percent of the time, including the Republican omnibus bill. Moulton also voted present on the pro-ICE resolution.

Rep. Tim Ryan (OH): 21.7 percent

Tim Ryan exits Capitol Hill on December 1, 2017. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Ryan, who unsuccessfully challenged Pelosi for House Minority Leader after the 2016 election, is in the safe D+7 13th congressional district that contains Youngstown.

However, the nine-term congressman has supported Trump’s policies nearly 22 percent of the time, including backing the GOP omnibus bill. Ryan also voted present on the pro-ICE resolution.

Rep. Brian Higgins (NY): 20.9 percent

Brian Higgins on Capitol Hill on July 18, 2018. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Higgins represents Buffalo and Niagara Falls in the 26th congressional district. Though it’s rated as a D+11 area by Cook, the district supported Trump in 2016 after backing Obama in 2012 and 2008.

The eight-term congressman has voted in line with Trump just under 21 percent of the time, including supporting “Kate’s Law” and the GOP omnibus bill. Higgins also voted present on the pro-ICE resolution.

Rep. Linda Sánchez (CA): 14.4 percent

Linda Sánchez on Capitol Hill on November 15, 2018. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Sánchez is the only Democrat on this list who has backed Trump’s policies less frequently than Pelosi.

The nine-term congresswoman, who represents the D+17 38th congressional district near Los Angeles, voted present on the bill to support ICE.

Bonnie Watson Coleman at a news conference on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2016. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Per FiveThirtyEight, the current House Democrats who have been the least-supportive of Trump are New Jersey’s Bonnie Watson Coleman (6.5 percent), California’s Barbara Lee (7.7 percent), and Arizona’s Raúl Grijalva (8.6 percent).

UPDATE: Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY), one of the 16 House Democrats to sign the anti-Pelosi letter, will now back the California congresswoman after telling the Buffalo News that Pelosi “agreed to prioritize Higgins’ top two issues: a big infrastructure bill and a measure to open Medicare to people over age 50” on Wednesday.