Ryan: Challenge to Pelosi hard, but necessary


By GRAIG GRAZIOSI

ggraziosi@vindy.com

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Tim Ryan

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US Rep Tim Ryan D 13th talks with The Vindicator's Bertram deSouza about his run for House minority leader

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan made it official Thursday: He is launching a challenge to House minority leader Nancy Pelosi.

The congressman appeared Thursday night on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” for his first interview after his announcement.

Ryan said that despite Pelosi’s claim that she has the necessary two-thirds votes to secure her seat, he believes many Democrats are looking for a new direction for the party.

Ryan — who frequently expresses his appreciation of Pelosi as a mentor and colleague — described his challenge as a “battle within the family,” but maintained he’s better for the party going forward. He told Maddow his background fighting for working class constituents would be more valuable in winning back Republican districts in the southern United States, and ultimately rebuilding power in the congress.

“We need a leader who can go into all of those districts and persuade people who voted for Donald Trump to come back into the Democratic fold,” Ryan said. “I think I can do that; I know I can do that. I’ve been doing it my whole career.”

Ryan said he wanted to be “in the fight” and said the Democrats “screwed up” by ignoring working-class voters.

David Betras, Mahoning County Democratic Party chairman, supports Ryan’s challenge “150 percent,” and echoes Ryan’s calls for leaders who reflect the historical working-class voter base of the party.

“Nancy Pelosi’s average constituent makes $137,000 a year. Tim Ryan’s average constituent makes $57,000 a year. You tell me who can talk to middle America more – a coastal elite or someone from the heartland,” Betras said.

Ryan’s challenge to Pelosi may be indicative of a larger, party-wide shift in leadership and outreach favoring Democrats from working-class backgrounds.

“If we’re going to take back the Congress, we need to go into red counties, red areas of the state and convince people we’re for the working person,” Betras said. “Tim represents the changes we need to focus on.”

Mark Munroe, Mahoning County Republican Party chairman, was also supportive of Ryan’s bid.

“To state the obvious, it could certainly benefit the Valley to have Tim Ryan in a leadership position,” Munroe said. He argued that due to the district’s historically strong Democratic voting record, Ryan would be unlikely to lose his seat, providing a long-term advantage to the Valley.

He also argued that Ryan’s challenge suggests “serious fractures” in the Democratic party.

“It’s kind of ironic that President-elect Trump can give us positive, hopeful leadership in the White House while also allowing us to gain new influence with the minority Democrats through Tim Ryan,” Munroe said.

In a letter to the House Democratic Caucus, Ryan announced his intention to seek the top spot in the House leadership election , scheduled for Nov. 30.

“While having a position in Democratic Leadership has never been my life’s ambition, after this election I believe we all need to re-evaluate our roles within the Caucus, the Democratic Party, and our country,” Ryan wrote. “ That is why I am announcing my run for Minority Leader of the Democratic Caucus and humbly request your support.”

In the letter, Ryan listed a litany of failures among Democrats in recent years.

“Over the last 18 years, Democrats have only been in the majority of the House of Representatives for two terms and last week’s election results set us back even further,” he wrote. “We have lost over 60 seats since 2010. We have the fewest Democrats in state and federal offices since Reconstruction.

“Under our current leadership, Democrats have been reduced to our smallest congressional minority since 1929. This should indicate to all of us that keeping our leadership team completely unchanged will simply lead to more disappointment in future elections,” he wrote.

“I don’t know if it’s me, but it’s someone like me” who should lead the House Democrats, Ryan of Howland, D-13th, told The Vindicator earlier this week when asked if he would mount a challenge to Pelosi. The party needs someone “like me, who has constituents and friends who are steelworkers or work in construction. The economy and blue-collar jobs are important for us as a party. We need leaders who can go into these Great Lakes districts” and relate to the people there.

Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., also considered running against Pelosi, but ultimately decided to pursue the caucus chairman position, leaving Ryan Pelosi’s only challenger.

Pelosi of San Francisco wasn’t willing to change a scheduled Thursday leadership vote – that is, until a private Tuesday meeting of House Democratic Caucus members with several who pushed the delay.

“That was a good move for us to delay the vote and give the caucus time to reevaluate the election,” Ryan said. “My main goal is to have a conversation as to what happened with the election and what we can do to grow as a party. A lot of members made the case to extend it.”

Ryan began receiving calls late last week from fellow House Democrats urging him to challenge Pelosi. He then began making calls to fellow Democrats to gauge his support.

“I have spent countless hours meeting and talking to members of our Caucus, and the consensus is clear. What we are doing right now is not working,” Ryan wrote in today’s letter.

“Vote for me and I will dedicate all of my energy to lead us back into the majority,” he added. “Our constituents deserve nothing less.”