By Casey Tolan, Bay Area News Group
Conor Lamb’s surprise win in a deep-red Pennsylvania congressional district this week was great news for Democrats — but not necessarily for Nancy Pelosi.
In the wake of his victory, many Democrats running for Congress in her home state are keeping the House minority leader at arms length.
Lamb, a Democrat who eked out a win in a seat that had voted for President Trump by 20 percentage points, staked part of his political message on the fact that he vowed to oppose Pelosi for leader or Speaker of the House. After his win, some strategists predict more Democrats running in Republican districts will follow his lead.
A survey of 34 Democrats running for Congress in competitive Republican-held seats in California this year found only two candidates willing to publicly to commit to voting for Pelosi if they were elected.
Two others have said they would not vote for the San Francisco congresswoman. Eight said they hadn’t made up their mind, and the rest of the pack declined to comment or didn’t respond.
Keeping mum on Pelosi might be a smart political move for now, pundits say — nearly every key district here is facing a competitive primary between multiple Democrats, and publicly opposing Pelosi could annoy loyal party voters. But being too effusive about her would be politically harmful among Republicans and independents.
“Republicans have used her as a political piñata,” said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College. “There’s probably more to lose than to gain by explicitly pledging to support her.”
One of Pelosi’s only backers was Mike Levin, a lawyer running in the San Diego-area 49th district, which is currently held by the retiring Republican Rep. Darrell Issa.
“Leader Pelosi is one of my political heroes,” Levin said. “I can’t imagine we could have a better Speaker should we regain control of the House.”
Kia Hamadanchy, a former Senate aide running against Rep. Mimi Walters, R-Irvine, in the Orange County’s 45th district, has previously said he’d back Pelosi, although a campaign spokesman did not respond to requests for comment this week.
On the other side, Doug Applegate, a former marine running in the 49th district, said at a debate earlier this year that he wouldn’t vote for her. “We can do better,” he said. “We need to move in a different direction.”
Omar Siddiqui, an FBI adviser running against Rep. Dana Rohrabacher in the 48th district, also opposes Pelosi for leader. “He thinks she should step down to give a new generation of Democrats the chance to lead, in terms of people of color and younger people,” said Luis Aleman, Siddiqui’s campaign manager.
Other candidates insisted that they didn’t know how they would vote.
“Dave hasn’t thought about that yet,” said Paige Hutchinson, the campaign manager for state party-endorsed professor Dave Min, who’s also running against Walters.
“Although Nancy Pelosi has been critical for California and Democrats in Congress, I would like to see more options before making a decision,” said Sam Jammal, a civil rights lawyer running in the 39th district.
Most of the candidates simply didn’t respond. We’ll update if more do.
Pelosi’s team said they weren’t worried about the lack of enthusiasm, and noted that she has not asked any candidates to endorse her for leadership.
“We are blessed by a healthy roster of candidates in California,” said Jorge Aguilar, her political spokesman. “Leader Pelosi believes these candidates should focus on their individual races… For now, the message is ‘just win baby!’ and the leadership conversation is for later.”
Pelosi has also faced discontent from within her own state caucus. Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Whittier, made headlines last year when she said Pelosi should step down from leadership after the 2018 midterms. In the last Democratic leadership election in November 2016, 63 of the party’s House members did not support Pelosi.
Expect to see Pelosi used as a campaign issue in some of California’s biggest congressional races this year. In Lamb’s election, Republican groups and his GOP opponent Rick Saccone aired a barrage of TV ads tying him to Pelosi, with one memorable spot depicting him as Nancy’s “little lamb.” Lamb responded by airing his own ad declaring he would oppose her.
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Katie Merrill, a Democratic strategist for a PAC working to flip Republican-held seats in California, said GOP attacks featuring Pelosi wouldn’t be effective in the Golden State.
“Californians have known Nancy Pelosi for decades,” Merrill said. “The way Democrats are going to win these districts is focusing on the local issues that matter to voters.”
Many Democrats also stress that despite Pelosi’s role as an easy target for Republicans, she’s a prodigious fundraiser and strong legislative tactician in Congress. Last election cycle, she raised $141.5 million for the party’s congressional candidates.
“They’ll take her money — they just don’t want to take her embrace,” Pitney said.
One worrying scenario for Pelosi would be if Democrats take back the House by just a slim margin above the 23 votes they need to flip the chamber. There might be enough Democrats like Lamb who had vowed to oppose her that she couldn’t muster a majority and take the speaker’s gavel.
Republicans faced a similar situation in 2015, when Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, couldn’t ascend from GOP majority leader to speaker because of opposition from within his own caucus. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, ended up getting the job.
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