Top Donors Say ‘Keep Pelosi’ In Letter to House Democrats

A group of top donors to the Democratic Party’s House campaign committee have signed a letter urging Democrats in the House of Representatives to retain current Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as the party’s leader. These “money people” who helped Democrats take back House control are strongly backing Pelosi’s bid for Speaker of the House when Democrats take the majority in January.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) donors in the letter made very clear that they support Pelosi. They pointed out that funding for House races may decrease with a Democratic caucus under different leadership. As of right now no alternative candidate to Rep. Pelosi has emerged from the group of her critics who say they won’t support her bid to become Speaker.

“The competence and effectiveness of the Leader is a critical component in motivating us to reach in our pockets. On that basis it is hard to imagine a replacement for Nancy engendering the same level of confidence at this critical time,” the donors wrote in the unusual letter.

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“Your recent success in winning the majority is only a first step in changing our country’s direction. As critical as it was, the coming cycle is even more so,” the donors added.

The letter was organized by Dennis Mehiel, a former Democratic National Committee (DNC) member and longtime donor. It was co-signed by over a dozen other major donors. The letter gave a warning also — they said that with Rep. Pelosi gone there would be a return to the “structural disadvantage that prevailed for many years” and harmed Democratic candidates.

As of today Pelosi’s prospects to remain as the Democratic House leader are still uncertain. A group of 16 Democratic members of Congress on Monday signed a letter expressing opposition to her election as Speaker. The group was composed of primarily centrist and conservative Democrats who had vowed not to vote for Rep. Pelosi during their recent congressional campaigns.

At the same time, Pelosi has garnered the support of almost all members of the House Progressive Caucus, including caucus leader Pramila Jayapal of Washington and incoming member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

No public challengers to Pelosi have been announced, though the congresswoman’s opponents have been lobbying Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) to run against her.

Pelosi and Fudge held a “candid and respectful” talk last week, according to Pelosi, brokered by Fudge’s fellow Congressional Black Caucus member Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.).

Fudge has been largely silent since the meeting, and it’s unclear whether she will mount a bid as members of the Black Caucus have largely come out in support of the current Minority Leader.

In January of 2007 Pelosi was elected as the first woman Speaker of the House in United States History, and was considered to be very effective in her job. She was instrumental in the passage of several significant pieces of legislation while Barack Obama was president, including the Affordable Care Act.

Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.