{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://beatty.house.gov/media-center/news-articles/nancy-pelosi-defeats-ohio-s-tim-ryan-to-hold-democratic-leader-post", "Nancy Pelosi defeats Ohios Tim Ryan to hold Democratic leader post", "2016-11-30", "2016", "2016-11", "Democrat", "House", "OH", "Joyce Beatty", "B001281", "beatty.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON  \n\tHouse Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi fended off a challenge to her leadership position Wednesday, beating out a northeast Ohio Democrat to retain the Democratic leadership position she\u2019s held since 2003.\nPelosi, a California Democrat who has led House Democrats since 2003, defeated Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Niles, 134-63 in a closed-door meetings of House Democrats. While 188 Democrats currently serve in the House, six incoming House Democrats joined them for the vote today.\nRyan, who has praised Pelosi and called her a mentor, said he ran in an attempt to expand what is now the smallest minority since 1929. He argued Democrats must do more to woo the working class white voters who largely abandoned them in favor of President-Elect Donald Trump. In his district, for example, Democrat Hillary Clinton only won Democratic stronghold Mahoning County by three points, while President Barack Obama won it by roughly 25 percent in both 2008 and 2012.\nShortly after the vote was announced, Ryan congratulated Pelosi on her re-election, saying he looks \u201cforward to working with her to promote a progressive agenda for the country.\u201d\n\u201cI ran for leader because I believe strongly in the promise of the Democratic Party, but November taught us that changes were necessary,\u201d Ryan said, adding \u201cI am proud that my bid for Democratic Leader pushed our members to have these tough family discussions about our future and how we win back the majority in 2018.\u201d\nRep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., who backed Ryan, said he did so because he believed Ryan would present a \u201cunifying and uplifting message\u201d that would bring back some of the blue-collar workers that went for Trump.\nHe said the Democratic brand is now \u201ctoxic,\u201d in some of the districts that were once Democratic strongholds. \u201cThey\u2019ve cleaned our clock in the Midwest,\u201d Lynch said, saying he backed Ryan because he believed \u201che could help reconnect us with that demographic.\u201d\nWhile Ryan\u2019s fellow Ohioan Marcia Fudge publicly backed Ryan, Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Jefferson Township, voted for Pelosi. In a statement, she said Pelosi and Ryan are \u201cstrong Democrats, skilled and passionate individuals dedicated to advancing the causes important to all Americans.\u201d\n\u201cHowever, I believe Leader Pelosi is best suited to address the challenges our Caucus and nation will face and ensure that our economy works for everyone,\u201d she said.\nMomentum toward Ryan appeared to falter late Tuesday when Pelosi, 76, announced that two-thirds of the caucus had promised to back her.\nShe dismissed the notion that Ryan could do more to woo white working class voters, telling the Huffington Post last week that Ryan \u201cdidn\u2019t even carry his district for Hillary Clinton.\u201d\nRep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., was among those who backed Pelosi.\n\u201cAt the end of the day I believe we need stable leadership and with the impending Trump administration Democrats need to be united and we need a true strategist at the helm,\u201d he said, saying Pelosi has \u201cheld the Democratic caucus together.\u201d\nConnolly said Democrats \u201cneed stability and need to regroup.\u201d\n\u201cNancy Pelosi\u2019s one of the smartest politicians I know and I think she will take away from this challenge I think the right lessons,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to open up leadership opportunities to the entire caucus.\u201dThis article first appeared on the Dayton Daily News' website on November 30, 2016.", 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": ["http://beatty.house.gov/media-center/news-articles/nancy-pelosi-defeats-ohio-s-tim-ryan-to-hold-democratic-leader-post"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.2462341003119946, "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"}