Pelosi easily fends off Ohioan Tim Ryan's challenge

WASHINGTON — An Ohio lawmaker who mounted a long-shot campaign against House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi failed to grab the top Democratic slot Wednesday.

But Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Niles, said he feels good about forcing a “family” conversation about the future of a party that now holds the smallest minority it’s had since 1929.

“I knew it was going to be an uphill battle,” said Ryan, acknowledging he’s “disappointed, because I like to win.”

But “it was a great discussion for us, and honestly, I think the party is better off.”

Pelosi, a California Democrat who has led House Democrats since 2003, defeated Ryan 134-63 in a closed-door meeting. While 188 Democrats currently serve in the House, six incoming House Democrats joined them for the vote Wednesday as well as four nonvoting delegates who were allowed to weigh in on the leadership question.

Ryan, who has called Pelosi a mentor, said he ran in an attempt to re-emphasize the economic issues that previously made the Democratic Party popular with working-class white voters. Many of those voters supported Republican Donald Trump in last month's presidential election.

Shortly after the vote, Ryan congratulated Pelosi on her re-election, saying he looks “forward to working with her to promote a progressive agenda for the country.”

“This is her caucus, clearly, but we had an opinion and we wanted to make sure people heard it,” said the 43-year-old former Youngstown State quarterback. "I felt like it was my responsibility to step up and give voice to the people from Ohio that have really, I think, felt disconnected in a lot of ways from the Democratic Party.”

Pelosi, 76, speaking to reporters after the vote, said, “We’re at a time that is well beyond politics. It’s about the character of America.”

Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., said he backed Ryan because he believed the Ohioan would present a “ unifying and uplifting message” that would bring back some blue-collar workers. He said the Democratic brand is now “toxic” in some of the districts that were once Democratic strongholds.

“They’ve cleaned our clock in the Midwest,” Lynch said. Ryan, he said, could have helped "reconnect us with that demographic.”

Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Jefferson Township, voted for Pelosi. "I believe Leader Pelosi is best suited to address the challenges our caucus and nation will face and ensure that our economy works for everyone," Beatty said in a statement.

Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., was among those who backed Pelosi.

“At the end of the day I believe we need stable leadership, and with the impending Trump administration, Democrats need to be united and we need a true strategist at the helm,” he said. "Nancy Pelosi’s one of the smartest politicians I know, and I think she will take away from this challenge I think the right lessons,” he said.


This article first appeared on the Columbus Dispatch's website on November 30, 2016.