WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) — House Democrats may turn to their own Ryan as an answer the GOP’s Ryan on Capitol Hill.
Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan on Thursday wrote a letter to his colleagues in the House announcing his intention to challenge California Rep. Nancy Pelosi for the role of House minority leader.
Pelosi has served in the post for nearly a decade covering two stints, from 2003-2007 and again from 2011 to the present day. In between, she served as speaker of the House — totaling her Democratic leadership at 13 years, and counting.
This week, House Democrats pushed back their leadership nomination vote to the end of the month to give the party additional time to figure out whether they want to continue to move forward with Pelosi as their top voice in the junior chamber.
Ryan has hinted that he might mount a challenge, and Thursday he confirmed that possibility with his letter.
“Last Tuesday’s election will forever be remembered as a major turning point for the United States of America,” he said to open the letter. “I was disheartened by the results, but I also realized that Democrats must not let this opportunity for change pass by without a fight.”
Pelosi herself agreed with party leaders’ decision to postpone the leadership vote until after Thanksgiving to determine what direction they want to take in light of last week’s devastating election losses.
“We owe it to our constituencies to listen and bring a new voice into leadership.”
Ryan said he plans to introduce new policies and ideas in the coming weeks to energize the Democratic Party, as well as “fight the intolerance and dangers that President-elect Trump represents.”
The Ohio Democrat also said he will only serve as House minority leader if the party caucus supports him with a minimum of a two-thirds vote during the secret ballot election on Nov. 30. If he wins that nomination, he must then be approved by a full House vote in January.
Ryan, 43, has represented Ohio in the House since 2003 and served in the state senate before that.
Some Democrats applaud the challenge for leadership.
“I think that it’s very healthy for there to be competition for leadership,” Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, said in a report by the Washington Post.
On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., was renominated to continue as House speaker earlier this week in the GOP’s leadership vote.
