Politics

Ten percent of House Democrats vote against Pelosi for minority leader

Jon Ward Contributor
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Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endured a doubly embarrassing moment Wednesday: As she assumed the role of minority leader she also faced a revolt of a tenth of her own caucus, who voted against her.

Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina, who emerged as a rival to Pelosi from within the Democrats’ moderate Blue Dog wing during the last year, received 11 of the 19 votes cast against Pelosi.

Two votes were cast for Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, a civil rights icon of the Democratic Party, who himself voted for Pelosi. Only one woman voted against Pelosi, who was the first female speaker.

Individual votes were cast for outgoing House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, Jim Cooper of Tennessee, and Marcy Kaptur of Ohio.

Jim Costa and Dennis Cardoza of California voted for one another.

Rep. Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania was the first Democrat to cast his vote against Pelosi, and did so loudly and with a defiant expression, adding an element of suspense to the usually boring roll call vote for speaker and minority leader, which goes member by member, calling the name of all 435 lawmakers.

Rep. Jim DeFazio of Oregon, who is opposed to Pelosi’s leadership, did not attend or cast a vote.

The 20 votes against Pelosi were an even 10 percent of her own caucus opposed to her leadership.

Here is the list of votes against Pelosi:

Jason Altmire, PA – Shuler
John Barrow, GA– John Lewis
Sanford Bishop, GA – present
Dan Boren, OK – Shuler
Dennis Cardoza, CA – Jim Costa
Jim Cooper, Tenn – Shuler
Jim Costa, CA – Cardoza
Joe Donnelly, IA – Shuler
Gabrielle Giffords, AZ – John Lewis
Tim Holden, PA – Shuler
Ron Kind, WI – Jim Cooper
Larry Kissell, NC – Shuler
Dan Lipinski, IL – Kaptur
Mike McIntyre, NC – Shuler
Jim Matheson, UT – Shuler
Michael Michaud, ME – Shuler
Mike Ross, Arkansas – Shuler
Kurt Schrader, OR – Hoyer
Heath Shuler, NC – Shuler

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