Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) is mulling a challenge to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in November, spurred on by heir-apparent Rep. Joe Crowley’s (D-NY) shocking primary defeat by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez last month.
According to a Monday Politico report, Ryan won a third of the caucus’ votes in his last run for leadership after the 2016 election.
“The Crowley race changed a lot for a lot of us,” Ryan told Politico “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.”
Crowley’s loss has also inspired some other ambitious Democrats to eye leadership positions.
Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) has reportedly said that he’d be interested in the whip position if Democrats get the majority. Reps. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) are both considering Crowley’s job as caucus chairman. Per Politico, Sanchez and Lee spent their Fourth of July break contacting allies and colleagues about their possible bids.
With Crowley’s shakeup and a promising landscape to wrest back House control, many Democratic caucus members see this time as an ephemeral window to leapfrog into esteemed leadership positions that would usually take years to earn.
