UPDATE: Rep. Pelosi has responded to reports that she may face another challenger for speaker.
Pelosi on a potential leadership challenge from Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH):
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) November 15, 2018
Come on in. The water’s warm
ORIGINAL POST
There is no doubt in the minds of Reps. Filemon Vela (D-TX) and Seth Moulton that they can dethrone Nancy Pelosi and keep her from the speakership.
"I am 100 percent confident we can forge new leadership," Rep. Filemon Vela (D-TX) and Seth Moulton (D-MA) said on Tuesday.
Soon after those remarks, a letter began circulating through Congress opposing Pelosi's speaker bid. It now has 17 signatures.
Here are the 17 Democrats currently signed on to the letter to oppose Pelosi.
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) November 14, 2018
There are a bunch more Democrats who say they won't support her, but have not signed the letter — at least not yet. (Conor Lamb, Abigail Spanberger, Jason Crow, Andy Kim, etc.)https://t.co/1BYzOqxKAG pic.twitter.com/AHG9oOFHuE
The confidence goes both ways, however. Pelosi is "very confident in her support among members and members-elect," according to her spokesman Drew Hammil.
Democrats supporting her speakership bid say she is a proven leader, having successfully helped the party pass Obamacare. She seems to agree that justifies her leadership position.
"I do think that I am best qualified to take us into the future, protect the Affordable Care Act, to do our infrastructure bill and the rest," she said last week. "Stepping down this path, I know the ropes.”
Other Democrats like freshman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, meanwhile, are openly protesting Pelosi outside her office. Although she insists it was just a friendly reminder to Pelosi that progressives want her to pursue an environmental agenda.
“Should Leader Pelosi become the next speaker of the House we need to tell her that we’ve got her back in showing, in pursuing the most progressive energy agenda,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
The demonstration, she added, is “a celebration of our goals.”
Still, the freshman has yet to say whether she'll support Pelosi for speaker. She has reason not to, considering Pelosi tried to downplay Ocasio-Cortez's surprising primary win over incumbent Democrat Rep. Joseph Crowley in New York earlier this year.
"They made a choice in one district," Pelosi said at the time. "So let’s not get yourself carried away as an expert on demographics and the rest of that."
Last go around Pelosi had a challenge from Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH). This year another Ohioan, Marcia Fudge, is eyeing the speaker position.
"People are asking me to do it, and I am thinking about it," Fudge said.
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