Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan to Challenge Nancy Pelosi

Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan has announced that he will be challenging Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as leader of the House Democrats in the upcoming election to be held the week after Thanksgiving. 

“This is a minor earthquake…only because Pelosi has had an iron grip on her caucus for many years now and her leadership has not really been challenged in a significant way,” reports MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt. 

Ryan’s move “underscores just how divided Democrats are right now,” continues Hunt, pointing out that Pelosi represents ultra-liberal West Coast Democrats whereas Ryan represents Midwestern Democrats. 

“Ryan is from a place that was really hard hit by this manufacturing crisis and that has presented a challenge to the Democratic Party,” says Hunt. Pelosi claims she has support from two-thirds of her caucus, but “we don’t know yet how much support he [Ryan] might have.

Tim Ryan represented the Buckeye State in the Senate from 2000 to 2002 before joining the House, where he currently represents Ohio’s 17th district. He has been reelected five times since 2002. 

Ryan is a member of the “30 Something” Working Group, a caucus of young politicians aimed to engage younger voters by focusing on issues important to them. Ryan identified as pro-life when he joined Congress, but has since reversed his stance to pro-choice. 

Ryan announced his bid for House minority leader on November 17th and is so far the only challenger to Pelosi. “Under our current leadership, Democrats have been reduced to our smallest congressional minority since 1029,” said Ryan in a letter to his colleagues. “This should indicate to all of us that keeping our leadership team completely unchanged will simply lead to more disappointment in future elections.. Democrats must not let this opportunity for change pass by without a fight.” 

Nancy Pelosi has held the top slot in Democratic House leadership since 2003. She served as minority leader for four years before becoming America’s first female Speaker of the House in 2006. 

Pelosi was knocked down to minority leader again when the Dems lost control of Congress four years later and has held that position since 2011.

Editor’s note: This would be a great thing for America. Nany Pelosi is has pushed the left agenda to the extreme, without knowing or caring about the ramifications. Its one thing to be a believer, it’s quite another to be mindless about it.