In her 12 years leading the conference, Nancy Pelosi has only been challenged once. | Getty Pelosi confronts discontent in the ranks Rep. Tim Ryan mulls a long-shot challenge as Democrats seek to delay leadership elections slated for Thursday.

House Democrats returned to Washington Monday searching for answers after their Election Day drubbing — and their longtime leader, Nancy Pelosi, confronted the first real stirring of discontent within the ranks since the last Democratic wipeout six years ago.

While Pelosi has years or even decades of accumulated loyalty to fall back on, anger within the Democratic Caucus over what happened last week is palpable. The California Democrat faces a possible long-shot challenge from Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, who hails from the kind of working-class Rust Belt district in which Democrats got trounced.


And dozens of Democrats are pressuring Pelosi to postpone leadership elections scheduled for Thursday. Voting to reinstall the same set of leaders after just a few days of reflection or debate would be a mistake, they say; Democrats need to reckon with their historic loss.

"This was not my thing. I never had any intention of running for a leadership position," Ryan said in an interview Monday evening. He said he began considering it after hearing from a couple dozen members over the weekend urging him to launch a bid.

Ryan’s spokesman, Michael Zetts, added that the Democrat "understands that many members are deeply concerned about the future of the Democratic Party and caucus. He watched many traditional Democrats leave our party and he is concerned that if changes aren't made we will be in the political wilderness for many years to come.”

Pelosi hasn't had a serious challenge to her position as the top House Democrat since 2010, when Democrats lost control of the House in a GOP bloodbath. She has widespread support within the caucus and would be heavily favored to beat back any challenge.

"This is when we should be gathering momentum and fighting to take the House back and stop [Donald] Trump in 2018. This is not the time for us to be devouring ourselves,” said retiring Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), a Pelosi ally.

The possible challenge of Pelosi was one of many displays of a staggering Democratic Party.

Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, the first Muslim ever elected to Congress, is running for Democratic National Committee chairman with the promise of a shakeup.

And Hillary Clinton spoke of "heartbreak" and repeated the slogan from her failed campaign during a conference call Monday with rank-and-file lawmakers.

“In the end, our vision for America earned more votes. [I'm] grateful for that ... And no one is sorrier than me. Heartbreaks don’t heal overnight and this one won't," Clinton said, according to a Democrat on the call. “Two things we can’t afford to be is discouraged or divided. We are stronger together."

Yet Democrats face a bleak two years or longer. With Trump in the White House and Republicans running Capitol Hill, the GOP is poised to roll back much of what Barack Obama accomplished the past eight years.

Democrats are just starting to grapple with how to respond.

The 43-year-old Ryan was first elected to the House in 2002. He hasn't officially declared for minority leader, though he is taking a long look at it. He'll have to move quickly in order to round up the votes to threaten Pelosi, who's led the caucus for a dozen years.

A senior Democratic aide called Ryan's move "a publicity stunt," saying it's doubtful he'll actually run. Ryan paid just half of his $200,000 party dues this election cycle despite having $500,000 in cash on hand for his reelection campaign, the aide said.

Not so, a spokesman for Ryan responded.

"This is absolutely not a publicity stunt. He never had the ambition to run for leader but after last week's election results and the phone calls he had with his colleagues, he's open to the idea. He's not ruling anything out," Zetts told POLITICO.

A Democratic lawmaker backing Ryan who asked not to be named said support is building for a leadership shakeup and took issue with the criticism of Ryan's dues payments.

“This is not the time to start taking potshots,” said the member, referencing Ryan’s delinquent dues specifically. “We have lost election after election after election and our leadership doesn’t even want to discuss it with us. They don’t want to hear our concerns.”

Ryan's potential candidacy comes as another group of House Democrats is seeking to postpone Thursday's leadership elections. More than 30 Democrats have signed a letter requesting a delay, said Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.).

The members are not supporting Ryan's candidacy, though the twin efforts highlight the disquiet within Democratic ranks.

Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) said he's in favor of delaying the elections and sent a separate letter saying so.

"Personally, I think there's growing support for this," Larson said.

Congressional Black Caucus Chairman G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) also told Pelosi last weekend that he thinks she should push back the leadership vote and that he still feels that way.

There is also talk inside Democratic circles about ways to loosen Pelosi and leadership's hold on power. For instance, some rank-and-file Democrats want to make the chairmanship of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee an elected position; currently, Pelosi appoints someone to that job on her own authority. Other options under consideration include making all leadership positions open to a Democratic Caucus vote, or allowing junior members to have representation at the leadership table.

Other members have floated the idea of a renewed push for term limits for committee leaders, something a Democratic aide said the CBC would most surely oppose. A number of black lawmakers hold ranking positions at the full committee level, and a change in policy could threaten that.

But it’s unclear whether those concessions would even be enough to quiet the discord brewing in the caucus.

In her 12 years leading the conference, Pelosi has been challenged only once — by former Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina after the 2010 election. Shuler garnered 43 votes, a remarkably strong showing by Pelosi after the party's losses that year.

So far, Pelosi has not commented on Ryan's possible challenge.

Ryan could be appealing for some Democrats who worry that the party has moved too far left, leaving behind the working-class voters who long made up an integral part of its base.

“One thing is clear — the Democratic Party is getting wiped out in rural America. Our party isn’t spread out enough for just the urban and suburban vote to carry these states,” said Wisconsin Rep. Ron Kind, who spoke to POLITICO late last week before the Ryan news.

“I think we have to have a better message for rural America. That they’re not being left behind,” Kind added.

Many Democrats voiced frustrations about the party’s lack of appeal to working-class voters during a caucus call the day after the election.

“We’ve got to figure out how we take care of it — how we make our diversity our strength. But our diversity is everybody, it’s inclusion of everybody,” said Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.). “Along the way we’ve got to make sure we’re including working men and women.”

Ryan initially signed on to a letter circulated over the weekend asking Pelosi to delay the leadership election. But Ryan took his name off the missive once it became clear he might challenge Pelosi.