{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://lipinski.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=91&itemid=3129", "Lipinski Announces Support for Ryan", "2016-11-29", "2016", "2016-11", "Democrat", "House", "IL", "Daniel Lipinski", "L000563", "lipinski.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Dan Lipinski (IL-3) released the following statement ahead of tomorrow\u2019s House Democrat leadership vote:\r\n\r\n\t\u201cHouse Democrats are at our lowest number since the presidency of Herbert Hoover.\u00a0 That means that more than 98% of Americans have not seen House Democrats with fewer members.\u00a0 This year was supposed be a great opportunity to pick up a significant number of seats - maybe even regain the majority - by focusing the campaign on Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump.\u00a0 But after another bitterly disappointing election, House Democrats must finally acknowledge that something needs to change if we are once again going to become a majority party in the House of Representatives.\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u201cNancy Pelosi has been a very strong Speaker and Leader for House Democrats.\u00a0 Her drive and determination made it possible for her to make history by becoming the first female Speaker of the House.\u00a0 Although I have not always agreed with her, I have always respected her great ability to rally Democrats together in the chamber.\u00a0 But the Democratic Caucus needs to take an honest look at the last few elections and recognize that the party\u2019s brand does not play well in the House districts we need to pick up to gain the majority.\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u201cToo many Americans feel that the Democratic Party no longer prioritizes fighting for hard-working Americans struggling to survive in our country today.\u00a0 Though I do not represent a rural district where Democrats have suffered our biggest losses, I do hear from some of my Democratic constituents that they don\u2019t trust that the national leadership of the party understands them and is addressing their concerns.\u00a0 That is one of the main reasons that Bernie Sanders won the Democratic Primary in my district this year.\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u201cI believe that without changes, including at the top of our House leadership, the voters we need in 2018 will not consider voting for Democratic House challenger candidates.\u00a0 Tim Ryan comes from a Rust Belt community that shares some similarities with my district and is very much like many of the districts Democrats need to win.\u00a0 He understands the perspective of workers and families who feel left behind.\u00a0 With Tim as our leader, I believe that we can begin to rebuild some of the trust that we have lost.\u00a0 Therefore, I'll be casting my vote for Tim Ryan on Wednesday to be our Democratic Leader.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://lipinski.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=91&itemid=3129"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6733611226081848, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}