For nearly a decade, Nancy Pelosi was the GOP's not-so-secret weapon. Tying a congressional candidate to the Democratic leader and raising the
For nearly a decade, Nancy Pelosi was the GOP’s not-so-secret weapon.
Tying a congressional candidate to the Democratic leader and raising the specter of another would-be speakership was a Republican’s silver bullet for much of the past decade.
But in 2018, that strategy failed — badly. Democrats flipped control of the House and are on pace to pick up as many as 40 seats with their biggest popular vote margin since the Watergate scandal, and Pelosi is hoping to become Speaker of the House again as her fellow Democrats take a first vote Wednesday.
In part, Republicans say Democrats successfully distanced themselves enough from Pelosi in 2018 to convince voters of their independence. But with many of them coming around to voting for her for speaker again, don’t count on the Pelosi strategy among the GOP to go away any time soon.
“I still think she’s a toxic figure and an unpopular figure to definitely tie Democrats to,” said GOP strategist Andrea Bozek, a former communications director at the National Republican Congressional Committee. “That’s why you had a lot of Democrat incumbents and candidates during the campaign say that they weren’t going to vote for her, which is sort of unprecedented.”
Pelosi has once again shown her political prowess in wooing even skeptical lawmakers and wavering freshmen to her side. A formal vote for Speaker won’t be held until January, but enough possible defections have now petered out that it looks like the California Democrat will claim the gavel again.
Coalescing support
On Tuesday, a group of 20 freshmen — including some who were lukewarm about her on the campaign trail — released a letter explaining their rationale for backing the 78-year-old Pelosi now.
“The incoming class of first-term members is younger and more diverse than ever before. A proven leader like Leader Pelosi will be a valuable resource as we, ourselves, step up to lead, and as we work to make life better for the people we represent,” the letter reads.
One of those signatories, Rep.-elect Angie Craig of Minnesota, admitted that she campaigned saying she would consider new leadership, but said Tuesday during a panel discussion on bipartisanship that “you can’t beat something with nothing” and she was supporting Pelosi after meeting with her and talking about taking action on several issues she stressed during her campaign.
Other possible Pelosi challengers also backed down. Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge was a possible alternative, but she announced last week she would support Pelosi after squeezing concessions from the leader and being granted a position leading a revived panel on election administration. New York Rep. Brian Higgins, who had earlier signed an anti-Pelosi letter, also reversed course.
According to a list by NBC News, there were at least 58 incumbents or candidates during the cycle who said they either wouldn’t support Pelosi or signaled they were open to new leadership, far more than the number that would be required to block her path if they all opposed her.
