House Democrats will hold a secret ballot Wednesday to determine their party's leadership and Nancy Pelosi is seen as a favorite to keep her role as the minority leader, according to The Hill.
The party gained at least six seats in the election, but Pelosi said she expected 25 wins. Added to Hillary Clinton's defeat, The Hill notes some Democrats see the party as facing internal strife and are looking for a change in leadership.
Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio is running against Pelosi for the leadership job.
"The level of frustration in our caucus is as great as I have seen it. And it's time to do something about it, not just talk about it," Ryan said during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday.
The secret ballot vote could be a way for members to vote against Pelosi without their opinions being known publicly, The Hill's reports.
"We have got to have the right messenger," Ryan told "Meet the Press" on Sunday. "We have got to have someone who cannot just go on MSNBC, but go on Fox and Fox Business and CNBC and go into union halls and fish fries and churches all over the country and start a brush fire about what a new Democratic Party looks like."
Newer members have said they are frustrated that Pelosi and her deputies — Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn, all in their 70s — have stayed in power, keeping them from rising in the ranks.
"There's a generation of Democratic leaders who have been stymied or held down or even cut off at the knees to keep her and Hoyer and others in power," a former Democratic leadership aide said, according to The Hill.
The former aide said that Democrats' focus on "core liberal issues" instead of the economy and jobs is a reason for the unrest in the party.
Pelosi addressed the dispute by promising new leadership positions only for newer members, but the Congressional Black Caucus said that leads to a disadvantage for African-American lawmakers.
Ryan faces an uphill battle to unseat Pelosi, who was the first woman elected speaker of the House. President Barack Obama praised her as a "remarkable leader," according to The Hill.
She has seen success at fundraising for the party and one former House Democrat she deserves her leadership role because of that.
"The most important messenger in American politics is money, and the ability to get on the air, get on social media, get on media that are relevant to voters is really expensive, and she has done a phenomenal job at giving us that opportunity," the former House Democrat said, The Hill reports.
However, Ryan argued that "if money was the answer, Hillary Clinton would be president and we would be in charge of the House of Representatives now."
A senior Democratic aide told Politico that "this will be the last go-round for the current leadership slate, no matter what happens."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.