House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who won her party’s nomination Wednesday to serve as House speaker in the next Congress, still has work to do to secure the necessary votes to reclaim the gavel.
Despite opposition from some members, Pelosi’s allies remained confident that the math would work out in the longtime leader’s favor come January.
Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., who voted against Pelosi in 2017 but had remained mum so far on how he plans to vote this year, said Thursday that he will not support Pelosi in the floor vote for speaker.
“If she’s interested in peeling off the 16 or 17 that she needs right now, she’s probably better off burning up the phone lines with other members,” Kind said. “We still have a month to go, and I still think she has a math problem.”
Thirty-two Democrats opposed Pelosi’s nomination Wednesday. She will need to persuade about half of them to back her if she is to win the full House vote for speaker.
Kind said that while he has “great admiration” for Pelosi and recently had discussions with her, voters in his district, which President Trump won by five percentage points in 2016, are “looking for change in both parties.”
He added that Democrats should also think about the message they are sending to the dozens of newly elected members of their caucus.
“Do they really have to stick around here for 30, 40 years before they have a chance at a gavel? That’s really the message we’re sending them today,” he said.
Kind notably was not among the lawmakers who signed a letter this month vowing to oppose Pelosi, in a sign that the California Democrat may face resistance from some members of her party who have not openly voiced their views.
Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who is poised to be House majority leader in the new Congress, spoke confidently about Pelosi’s prospects of becoming the first person to reclaim the speaker’s gavel in 63 years.
“Nancy Pelosi is going to be elected speaker,” Hoyer told reporters. “Every week brings a new group that says ‘well, I’ve got an understanding on this, that or the other.’ I hope that will happen, and I think it will.”
Hoyer said Pelosi has the overwhelming support of the caucus, and “in that context, I would hope that we would not have conflict on the floor regarding this issue.”
House Democrats also announced the results of several other leadership contests Thursday.
Rep. Cheri Bustos of Illinois bested two other candidates to become chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the party’s campaign arm.
The decision to elevate Bustos, a moderate lawmaker representing a district that voted for Trump, breaks with the traditional practice in both parties of choosing a member in a safe district to lead fundraising and strategy efforts. Bustos easily won reelection this month, but Republicans say that she could be vulnerable in a more favorable election cycle.
Asked Thursday whether she believes the math will work for Pelosi in January, Bustos responded, “It’ll work.”
“My advice to anybody, whatever the issue is, is to keep your word,” Bustos told reporters on Capitol Hill. “Whatever you said at home – you keep your word. I’m confident that Nancy Pelosi will be the next speaker of the House, and I’m also confident that these new members are going to be honest and truthful with their constituents.”
Bustos rose to prominence within the Democratic caucus in recent years by serving as a co-chair of the party policy and communications committee, which developed political messaging ahead of the midterms. She also emerged as an unofficial spokeswoman for Democratic efforts to reach out to Trump voters, particularly in Midwestern districts like her own.
Bustos beat out two challengers from Washington state, Reps. Suzan DelBene and Denny Heck, in the Thursday vote. Bustos won 117 votes to Heck’s 83 and DelBene’s 32, winning the necessary majority by a single vote.
Also Thursday, Democrats picked leaders for the Policy and Communications Committee. Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island won his unopposed race for the newly created position of chairman. Three others were selected for the role of “co-chairmen,” Reps. Matthew Cartwright of Pennsylvania, Debbie Dingell of Michigan and Ted Lieu of California.
Those picks represent a diverse mix reflecting a caucus that includes more women and minorities than ever. Cicilline is openly gay and Lieu is Asian American, while Cartwright and Dingell are moderates who have called for Democrats to do more to win white working class voters.