Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, is considering whether to mount a challenge against House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., after a member of the Democratic leadership’s surprise primary loss, Politico reports.
Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., the fourth-ranked Democrat in the House and heir-apparent to Pelosi, lost a primary challenge to newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez last month. His loss "changed a lot for a lot of us," Ryan told Politico on Monday.
"There was a lot of assumption that he was going to be moving forward in leadership, and so losing that election put everybody in a state of mind to reevaluate what was happening," he said.
According to Ryan, multiple colleagues have asked him to consider a leadership bid, though he has yet to commit to one.
"I wouldn’t get in unless I thought I could win," he told Politico. "I’m not going to do it just to do it."
Pelosi told Rolling Stone last May, in an interview released last Sunday, that Ryan is "inconsequential," as he and Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., another congressman who has called for a change in leadership, because “they don’t have a following in our caucus. None."
She added that “I think there are lots of people who have worked very hard, and are more in line for what will happen one of these times. But they’re not to be considered [among] who those people would be. I mean, there are people who work very hard to win the elections, who have been in legislative battles. People who paid their dues. Not to put anybody down. Anybody is consequential. But I have great support in my caucus. I’m not worried about that. And I’m certainly not worried about them."
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