Nancy Pelosi may have a fight on her hands.
Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio told CNN that he might announce a challenge as soon as Thursday against the veteran Democratic leader, warning that she does not have enough support to remain atop the caucus.
“The definition of insanity,” he said, is to do the “same thing over and over again and keep getting the results.”
Ryan added: “I think there’s a lot of support for going in a different direct. I really do.”
At the same time, a quiet lobbying push has emerged to recruit the fifth-ranking Democratic leader, Joe Crowley of New York, to challenge Pelosi for the top spot.
Crowley pointedly refused to say Thursday if he would challenge Pelosi.
“I’m listening,” he said, declining further comment.
The discussions come as Democrats are struggling to chart a path forward after President-elect Donald Trump’s stunning victory last week. Even Pelosi loyalists, like GK Butterfield of North Carolina, say she needs to present a more specific vision about where she wants to take the party.
“Well we’ve lost 60 seats over the last few years,” Butterfield, head of the Congressional Black Caucus, told CNN. “We cannot continue to lose seats here in the House.”
Leadership elections were already delayed until after Thanksgiving — against Pelosi’s will.
As Pelosi walked into a Democratic caucus meeting Thursday, she projected an aura of confidence.
“No,” she told CNN when asked if she was concerned about a leadership challenge.
At a news conference later in the day, Pelosi predicted she would be overwhelmingly re-elected as the party’s leader, saying she has the backing of two-thirds of her caucus. And she strongly defended her record, pointing to how the Democrats got back into the House majority in the 2006 midterms during the Bush years — and suggesting the same would be true in the Trump years.
“I am very proud to have the opportunity” to get the Democrats’ back to the majority, she said.
Yet, Democrats are still frustrated at Pelosi, according to members and aides.
“Instead of listening to members and hearing their thoughts about what went wrong, and what we should do instead, she instead presented a new agenda,” one Democratic source said. “That is not what members want … That is going to really frustrate people.”
Possible challenge — Crowley or Ryan?
It seems unlikely that both Crowley and Ryan will challenge Pelosi, with many expecting one or the other will mount a challenge. The 54-year-old Crowley, who has served in the House since 1999, has deep releationships within the Democratic Caucus — and could present a scare to Pelosi’s tenure if he decides to run.
Crowley is more moderate than Pelosi, which could have some liberals pause, but would present a different face of the opposition against Trump. Crowley is now running for the fourth-ranking position of caucus chair.
The 43-year-old Ryan, who joined the House in 2003, is trying to tap into the angst among some younger members who believe it’s time to take the reins from the 76-year-old Pelosi. After Ryan entered Congress, Pelosi recruited him along to serve in a group to elevate the profile of younger members.
Now he believes it’s time for the party to sell itself to the Rust Belt in light of Trump’s victory in states decimated by the downturn of the manufacturing sector, saying he would bring a “real connection to blue-collar people” if he became Democratic leader.