Nancy Pelosi praised the Democrats after the results of the US midterm elections gave Republicans a majority in the US House of Representatives. She has served as leader of the Democratic House for nearly two decades and is the only woman elected speaker, in two terms and under four presidents.
She tweeted, “This year the House Democrats defied expectations with an outstanding performance: they ran their races with courage, optimism and determination.
“In the next Congress, House Democrats will continue to play a leading role in supporting President Biden’s agenda — with strong influence over a sparse Republican majority.
“House Democrats are thrilled to have so many wonderful new and returning members in the House who will energize our Caucus with their energy, diversity and patriotism.
“We salute our outgoing members for their amazing leadership, achieving groundbreaking progress in healthcare, climate action, infrastructure, gun violence, veterans and more that can never be reduced.
“At least three critical states are still counting the votes. We are endlessly grateful to those who continue their patriotic work to ensure that every vote is counted.”
According to Bloomberg, Hakeem Jeffries, 52, a representative of New York Hakeem Jeffries, is Ms. Pelosi’s heir.
Mr. Jeffries has served as the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus since 2019, and he has also taken on other leadership roles, most notably as one of seven House executives in the first impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.
Other Democrats expected to seek leadership roles include Massachusetts Representative Katherine Clark, 59, who is the No. 4 House Democrat, and Washington State Representative Pramila Jayapal, 57, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus
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Ms. Pelosi, a master legislative tactician, was elected speaker again in January 2019 after leading Democrats to the majority in the 2018 midterm elections under Trump.
However, to secure the role, she had to agree to a term limit of factions within her caucus and commit not to seek the gavel or top House party post after the term ends in January.
The House is closely divided and the current Democratic majority has 220 seats. The Democrats have so far won 211 seats for the next Congress.
Republicans won 218 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday in the recent midterm elections that concluded last week.
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The latest call came after more than a week of counting votes, when Edison Research predicted that Republicans had won the 218 seats they needed to scrape back control of the House.
Some of the winners to emerge Wednesday include Democrat Karen Bass, who won the race for mayor of Los Angeles and became the first woman elected to lead the country’s second-largest city.