House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced her bid once again for Speaker of the House on Friday as states continued to count their final votes to declare a presidential race winner.
Pelosi sent each Democratic member of the House a letter that included the agenda until 2022 and asked for their support in reelecting her as speaker, Fox News reported.
“Our vision for the next two years must be built on the success of Democratic House Majority in the 116th Congress, and to harness the extraordinary visions, values and vibrancy of our Caucus to secure the progress that the American people deserve,” Pelosi wrote in the letter obtained by Fox News.
During her formal announcement, Pelosi stated that Joe Biden won the presidency, saying they would work with “President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.”
“In that spirit, I am writing to request your support to be re-elected as Speaker,” Pelosi stated in the letter. “I do so with the utmost respect for the diverse viewpoints in our Democratic Caucus, the gravity of this role the urgency of the challenges ahead. I also do so with the great joy and appreciation to so many of you who have already offered your support.”
Becoming speaker may be more difficult for Pelosi this time around. Unanticipated congressional race losses on Tuesday mean the number of Democrats in the House has decreased. Moderate members in swing districts experienced losses, despite Pelosi’s confidence that the majority would expand.
By Friday morning, Democrats lost seven reelection attempts, whereas not a single GOP incumbent lost. Republicans also gained the Michigan seat of Libertarian Representative Justin Amash.
As of Friday, the Democrats have 208 seats to Republicans’ 193, with 34 races still awaiting final results. Republicans are confident that they will flip more seats and increase their presence in the House, possibly reaching the 208 count and beyond.
Members of the Democratic caucus expressed frustration with the unexpected losses during a call on Thursday afternoon, with some blaming progressive messages like defunding the police, socialism and the Green New Deal.
Democrat Representative from Virginia Abigail Spanberger was particularly upset during the call, Fox News reported.
“We lost races we shouldn’t have lost. Defund the police almost cost me my race because of an attack ad,” Spanberger said. “Don’t say socialism ever again. We need to get back to basics.”
The Virginia Democrat was part of a group of 15 members who did not support Pelosi for speaker in 2018. Pelosi will need a majority of the votes in the House to win the office, roughly 218 votes.
