Pelosi says she has the votes to be elected House speaker

WASHINGTON — House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday asserted she has the votes to win election as House speaker despite opposition by at least 17 members of her caucus, including Long Island Rep. Kathleen Rice.

Pelosi, 78, who has led House Democrats for 15 years, faces what lawmakers said appears to be shaping up as a very close vote in the House speaker election on Jan. 3 because some current and new members insist it’s time for a change.

“I have overwhelming support in my caucus to be speaker of the House,” Pelosi said  at a news conference. “And certainly we have many, many people in our caucus who could serve in this capacity. I happen to think that at this point, I'm the best person for that.”

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a Pelosi supporter, warned that she can’t afford to lose many more votes than the 17 already declared in the letter because “a small band of determined voters can upset the majority.”

Democrats have won 230 House seats with seven races still undecided. Pelosi likely will win a majority in the House caucus vote, but she needs 218 Democrats to vote for her in the House election next year to avoid relying on possible Republican support.

Pelosi has aggressively sought and gotten support from many Democrats on the national scene, such as Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and endorsements from many Democrats who likely will become House committee chairs next year.

But Rice, of Garden City, who just won a third term and has always pushed for a change in leadership, disputed Pelosi’s claim. Rice said 10 to 15 first-term representatives, many of them women, promised on the campaign trail that they would not vote for Pelosi.

After a closed-door House Democratic caucus meeting Thursday, Jeff Van Drew, a new representative who ousted a Republican in New Jersey, said he won’t vote for Pelosi because he promised he wouldn’t during his campaign — “and I always keep my promises.”

“It’s pretty much confirmed that she doesn’t have the votes,” Rice said in a phone interview. “The reality is she can’t get to 218.”

No opponent has stepped forward to challenge Pelosi, but Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), a former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, told The Washington Post in an interview that she is contemplating a run for speaker.

Asked about Fudge, Pelosi said, “I say it to everybody: ‘Come on in, the water’s warm.’ ”

Rice said others might step forward when the House Democratic caucus votes after Thanksgiving, likely on Nov. 28, once they see that Pelosi does not have the votes she needs to be elected just by Democrats in the House election.

As Democrats prepare to take control of the House for the first time in eight years, the leadership fight has exposed divisions within the caucus with subtle and not so subtle charges of sexism, racism and anti-gay sentiment.

Pelosi pointed out that only three of the 17 members who signed the letter opposing her are women, prompting Rice to say, “For her to turn this into a gender debate is so disingenuous.”

Meanwhile, Pelosi worked hard to win as many Democratic votes as she can.

Pelosi is negotiating with the bipartisan Problem Solvers caucus, for example, in a bid to win the votes of its nine Democratic members.

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), the caucus vice chair, said Pelosi sent the caucus a letter Thursday about its “Break the Gridlock” proposal. “We’re going to be meeting again in the next 24 hours, with the staff, to discuss these things and hammer out some more details,” he said.

“This is not an anti-Nancy Pelosi thing. It’s a try to fix a broken system thing,” Suozzi said. “We thought this was a time we could have some leverage to get some change.”