{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://beatty.house.gov/media-center/news-articles/pelosi-easily-fends-off-ohioan-tim-ryans-challenge", "Pelosi easily fends off Ohioan Tim Ryan's challenge", "2016-11-30", "2016", "2016-11", "Democrat", "House", "OH", "Joyce Beatty", "B001281", "beatty.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2014 An Ohio lawmaker who mounted a long-shot campaign against House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi failed to grab the top Democratic slot Wednesday.\nBut Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Niles, said he feels good about forcing a \u201cfamily\u201d conversation about the future of a party that now holds the smallest minority it\u2019s had since 1929.\n\u201cI knew it was going to be an uphill battle,\u201d said Ryan, acknowledging he\u2019s \u201cdisappointed, because I like to win.\u201d\nBut \u201cit was a great discussion for us, and honestly, I think the party is better off.\u201d\nPelosi, a California Democrat who has led House Democrats since 2003, defeated Ryan 134-63 in a closed-door meeting. While 188 Democrats currently serve in the House, six incoming House Democrats joined them for the vote Wednesday as well as four nonvoting delegates who were allowed to weigh in on the leadership question.\nRyan, who has called Pelosi a mentor, said he ran in an attempt to re-emphasize the economic issues that previously made the Democratic Party popular with working-class white voters. Many of those voters supported Republican Donald Trump in last month's presidential election.\nShortly after the vote, 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\u201cThis is her caucus, clearly, but we had an opinion and we wanted to make sure people heard it,\u201d said the 43-year-old former Youngstown State quarterback. \"I felt like it was my responsibility to step up and give voice to the people from Ohio that have really, I think, felt disconnected in a lot of ways from the Democratic Party.\u201d\nPelosi, 76, speaking to reporters after the vote, said, \u201cWe\u2019re at a time that is well beyond politics. It\u2019s about the character of America.\u201d\nRep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., said he backed Ryan because he believed the Ohioan would present a \u201c unifying and uplifting message\u201d that would bring back some blue-collar workers. He said the Democratic brand is now \u201ctoxic\u201d in some of the districts that were once Democratic strongholds.\n\u201cThey\u2019ve cleaned our clock in the Midwest,\u201d Lynch said. Ryan, he said, could have helped \"reconnect us with that demographic.\u201d\nRep. Joyce Beatty, D-Jefferson Township, voted for Pelosi. \"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,\" Beatty said in a statement.\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. \"Nancy 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.This article first appeared on the Columbus Dispatch's 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/pelosi-easily-fends-off-ohioan-tim-ryans-challenge"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7172552179545164, "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"}