McClatchy: Dems See Pelosi as 2018 Liability

Democratic House candidates are beginning to see House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi as a problem in 2018, McClatchy reports.

In the news outlet's survey of 20 candidates, only one would state support for the California lawmaker as leader of the House Democratic caucus, 18 declined to say if Pelosi should keep her job, and one was a definite "no."

"We are overdue for a new generation of leadership," said Kenneth Harbaugh, a candidate in Ohio’s 7th Congressional District, and the only candidate surveyed who was a hard no, McClatchy reported. "We have a remarkable opportunity in front of us, and it’s going to take new thinking and new leadership to capitalize on it."

McClatchy reported others in competitive districts that Democrats have targeted to win were less strident, but critical — or keeping their distance, including:

• David Kim, a candidate in Georgia's 7th congressional district, said, "President Putin probably has a better approval rating in Georgia than Nancy Pelosi."
• A spokesman for Chrissy Houlahan, running in Pennsylvania’s 6th District, told the outlet Pelosi "needs to get elected first," saying Houlahan "is focused on her own race."
• Andrea Ramsey, running in Kansas 3rd Congressional District, said “Kansas voters aren’t concerned about hypothetical DC insider politics."
• Jason Crow said his “only focus is the people of Colorado’s 6th District and what they need from their representative."
• Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, seeking the Democratic nomination in Florida’s 26th Congressional District, said she “hadn’t met” Pelosi.

Only one candidate told McClatchy he'd support Pelosi — Kia Hamadanchy, running in California’s 45th Congressional District.

Jenny Marshall, who is running in North Carolina’s 5th congressional district, told McClatchy she'd like to see other potential leaders step up.

"I lean more toward somebody who really would go out and knock doors themselves, would really value small donor donations, would value getting money out of politics, would value not taking corporate PAC money," Marshall said.

One offered praise.

"I do admire her for her courage," Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, a candidate in Florida’s 27th congressional district, told McClatchy. "It’s not easy to be a female leader anywhere, not just in the United States, but anywhere in the world."

A Pelosi aide dismissed the survey’s findings, arguing the lawmaker remains firmly established as the Democratic leader while candidates focus on more important issues.

• Pelosi: 'Unimportant' for Democrats to Win in 2018
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