The anti-Pelosi faction has released its list of 16 incumbents or apparent midterm winners who say they will not vote for Pelosi in the floor vote for Speaker. That is at least a few fewer than expected. Marcia Fudge, who has half-suggested she’d challenge Pelosi, apparently pulled her name from the list. So on a few fronts it seems like the effort is flagging.
But it remains important to understand what’s happening here.
Both caucuses – GOP and Democrats – have an election for a leader who they put forward as a candidate for Speaker. Pelosi doesn’t even have a challenger yet in the caucus election. It’s almost certain she would overwhelmingly defeat any challenger, probably by at least a 3:1 margin.
That’s not what any of this is about.
These sixteen reps are saying that regardless of who the caucus chooses for Speaker, they’ll vote against that person. So if Pelosi wins the vote in the Democratic caucus and is then presented as the candidate for the Democrats vs Kevin McCarthy for the Republicans those 16 either won’t vote or will vote for McCarthy or most likely vote for some symbolic candidate.
This is the whole caucus of more than 230 reps being dictated to by 16 members, who won’t accept the results of the Democrats leadership election.
