After serving as House Democratic leader for 17 years, Pelosi is undisputed. But she will have to carefully count votes to ensure she can avoid any embarrassment on the House floor, while facing the Democrats’ smallest majority in decades, a pandemic that could hamper attendance and some in her caucus calling for new leadership, as well as united, agitate. Republican resistance.
“If Nancy can do anything, it is that she knows how to count,” Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat, said. “She is very much aware of the fact that with a slim majority – with some members voting against her two years ago – there will have to be an attempt to convince them that it was then and it is now. We can not affordable. to have uncertainty about the speakers. ‘
A member must receive a majority of the votes to conquer the art of speaking. In 2018, 15 Democrats outscored Pelosi, but she can only afford to lose a few in 2021. After losing a dozen seats in 2020, the House Democrats are likely to control about 222 seats in the next term.
Michigan Representative Elissa Slotkin and Maine Representative Jared Golden have already said they do not intend to vote for her. And a handful of moderate and progressive Democrats, including Virginia Representative Abigail Spanberger and Missouri election Cori Bush and New York Jamaal Bowman, did not want to say how they would vote.
Pelosi’s deputies are also concerned that some allies with underlying health issues could be sidelined, as all members must be present to vote. One Democratic Member – Rep. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin – announced that she tested positive for Covid earlier this week, but her spokeswoman told CNN that she “does not expect it to affect her ability to perform her duties, including voting.
Pelosi’s allies said the speaker was confident she would easily win re-election. The speaker has a wealth of tools at her disposal to get votes, including a massive fundraising campaign, committee allocations and legislation she can address. In 2018, the 80-year-old Pelosi suggested that this would be her last term, with an agreement with a small group of Democratic rebels that she would serve no more than two terms as speaker.
Pelosi told her members in a private call earlier this week that her only enemy was in the fight for speaker Covid, according to several sources familiar with it, because the virus could affect the number of members who can come to Washington and vote. Although members could vote ill, the optics would be terrible.
“She is one of the few, clear leaders who can provide cohesion and leadership for the Democratic majority,” Connolly said. “I think she’s in a strong position about this, but is clearly aware of challenges she faces in terms of numbers and the uncertainty of coronavirus.”
