House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) at President Trump's first official State of the Union Speech in January. (Photo: Screen grab/C-SPAN)

(CNSNews.com) - Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said it's "sexist" for Republicans to make House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) an issue in their campaigns.



"This election was not about Nancy Pelosi," Crowley told a news conference on Wednesday. He spoke the day after Democrat Conor Lamb won the special congressional race in western Pennsylvania.



"Conor Lamb really localized the issue," Crowley said. "The attempt here to nationalize it by the Republicans -- I think they need to get a new game book. The attempts to use Nancy Pelosi, it's failing them at this point. And I think, quite frankly, it's sexist. So they need to move on from that.





'Conor Lamb effectively localized this election," Crowley said. "He spoke to the needs and the passions of the people there. He talked about trade, he talked about Social Security, he talked about things that really are meaningful to people's lives in the district, and that's why he was successful."



At his own news conference Wednesday morning, House Speaker Paul Ryan said both candidates in the race ran as "pro-life, pro-gun, anti-Nancy Pelosi" conservatives.



Lamb, in fact, did bring Nancy Pelosi into his race when he said he would not support her leadership position if he were elected.



In one of his campaign ads, Lamb said: "My opponent wants you to believe the biggest issue in this campaign is Nancy Pelosi. It's all a big lie.”



On Wednesday, a reporter reminded Crowley that Lamb thought Pelosi "was enough of an issue" to run a TV ad distancing himself from her: "So do you think that that's something that we could see other candidates doing?" the reporter asked.



"As I said before, I think they need to get a new playbook," Crowley responded. "This is worn. Nancy Pelosi has been an incredible leader for the Democratic Party, and she continues to be. And as I said, I think this had more to do with localizing this election. We saw the president of the United States come in and try to nationalize this election. He actually took executive steps -- executive orders on tariffs to influence the outcome of this election. And that even failed; was not enough to help the candidate.



"And, quite frankly, because Conor Lamb knew that what the president suggested is something that the Democrats in that region have been suggesting all along. And the folks were able to identify with him.



"And let's also look at Conor Lamb. Former -- was a veteran, served in the armed services. A prosecutor, the type of character that cannot be impeached by our president, certainly, but not by his Republican opponent. That's why Conor Lamb won," Crowley said.



Lamb ran as a conservative Democrat (although some of his positions are not conservative), and according to Crowley, "We have quite a few Conor Lambs running out there."



Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), the vice chair of the Democratic Caucus, told the news conference that Lamb was a "good fit" for his district because he understood its needs:



"You know, when he talked to people...foremost on their minds was not Nancy Pelosi. It was retirement security, it was good-paying jobs, it was the ability to organize and unionize that people were concerned about. It was, you know, proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare, the -- the programs that they rely on.



"And I think he did a great job of speaking specifically to the issues most of concern to his district."