Sources: Hoyer’s Official Bid For Whip Indicates He Has The Votes To Win

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
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Current House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) today made official his bid to take the position of Minority Whip in the 112th Congress, a strong indication that he and his supporters think he can win. A source close to Hoyer told TPMDC that they were, in fact, confident they now had the votes to win. Rep. Jim Clyburn (SC) is currently the Whip and indicated last week that he wants to keep his position in the next Congress.

Hoyer spent much of the weekend lining up support from moderate and progressive Dems alike, picking up Reps.Peter Welch (VT) early on and Betty Sutton (OH) and Niki Tsongas (MA) today, among others.

In a statement released even as meetings were ongoing in the Speaker’s office, Hoyer said:

Over the past several days, I have talked to most of my Democratic colleagues in the House. I have received support from across the breadth of our Caucus to remain in the second ranking position of our Democratic leadership team. In order to defend and build on our Democratic accomplishments, unify our Caucus, and immediately begin the hard work of winning back the majority, I will be running for Democratic Whip.

And in a Dear Colleague letter send shortly before the press release, Hoyer told his fellow members:

In my conversations with my colleagues about the future of our Democratic Caucus, I have been encouraged by the number of my fellow Democrats who have urged me to remain the second-ranking member of our leadership team in the House.

Even as the meetings continued on Capitol Hill, Rep. Jason Altmire (D-PA) — who does not support Pelosi for Majority — told Chris Matthews on “Hardball” that he supports Hoyer while CBC member Rep. Elijiah Cummings (D-MD) refused to reveal who he supported for Minority Whip.

[Ed note: this piece was edited after publication]

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