Democrats unanimously selected Nancy Pelosi to serve as their House leader once again on Tuesday, November 18, marking her seventh two-year term.
“It is humbling and it is prideful to be elected leader by your caucus,” she said following the announcement of her victory.
Pelosi’s right hand, Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) was also re-elected, maintaining his No. 2 spot in the House minority’s leadership.
Both leaders ran unopposed.
Pelosi has served as the party leader in the House since 2003, and in four of those years she was the first female House speaker.
The California Democrat is highly regarded by her party. She raised more than $101 million for her party’s chamber in the past two years, and appeared at 750 campaign events throughout 115 cities.
Despite this, some discontent during Pelosi’s leadership has surfaced.
With Pelosi at 74, and her lieutenant, Hoyer, at 75, talks of the possible need for younger leadership have come up.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) said that there are fresher faces waiting in line who are bound to take the reigns someday.
“But I see no evidence that anyone is pushing that,” he said. “The caucus has very high regard for Nancy and Steny, and that wouldn’t get anywhere.”
Other concerns from party members came after Democrats lost at least 12 seats in the House in the midterm elections. They said their party did not do a good job in convincing middle-class voters that they are looking out for them.
“We need a full-blown discussion of who we are, where we’re going, what our priorities are,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ). “If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. It’s all of our faults, not just the leadership.”
Some Democrats also attributed their recent losses on circumstances they could not control, including the dip in President Barack Obama’s popularity.
“Nancy did as good a job as she could with the situation,” said Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) told the Associated Press. “It’s very hard in an off-year, when people don’t come out to vote.”
Other Democratic leaders who were re-elected to their leadership roles on Tuesday included Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra of California and Assistant Leader Jim Clyburn of South Carolina.
(With reports from Associated Press, NBC and The Wall Street Journal)
