Who Is Challenging Pelosi’s Leadership?
The shadowy insurrection mounting against Nancy Pelosi now has a public face. Sixteen Democrats have signed a letter promising to vote against Pelosi in the Democrats’ internal caucus vote and on the House floor. But while anti-Pelosi feeling is at a high in the Democratic ranks, a challenger for the role of House Speaker has not yet been put forward. More at NPR.
The letter includes 11 incumbents, four incoming freshman and one candidate, Ben McAdams of Utah, whose race has not been called… Pelosi’s critics had been trying for weeks to garner 20 signatories on their letter. They fell short of their own goal by four names — five if McAdams is excluded. Still there’s no denying the gravity of the predicament before Pelosi. And simple math suggests that the minority leader will have to cut some sort of deal with her critics.
Pelosi has to project total and complete confidence that she will reclaim the gavel, even if she’s still working out the math… But Pelosi’s public dares for opponents to enter the race against her aren’t necessarily feints. She knows that having a direct challenger when the Democratic caucus votes for a speaker-designee would only improve her overall chances of returning to the position she lost eight years ago.
…the anti-Pelosi crowd doesn’t have a candidate to be, well, for. The only person considering the race is Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge, although she has given no indication of where she is leaning. If Fudge says no, it’s very hard to imagine any other Democrat challenging Pelosi. But, her detractors would argue, that is beside the point. Because, unlike past failed insurrections against Pelosi, they aren’t trying to beat her in the Democratic caucus vote — where Pelosi will need only a simple majority of the 232 or 233 Democrats elected to the House. They are trying to beat her in the floor vote for speaker.