Several Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee donors signed a letter of support for lame-duck House Minoirity Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in her bid for speakership when the new Congress is ushered in in January, Politico Playbook was first to report.
The donors argued there was not a viable replacement for Pelosi who would engender the “same level of confidence at this critical time,” while also making veiled threats about a new speaker who might only be able to “raise half the funding.”
Co-signers of the letter include the following donors: James Atwood, Philippe Brugere-Trelat, Jim Chanos, Mitchell Draizin, Jeff Gural, Judith Hope, Michael Kempner, Marsha Laufer, Dennis Mehiel (the organizer), Karen Mehiel, Keith Mestrich, Dick Ravitch, Ken Sunshine, Maureen White and Leslie Williams.
Read the excerpt flagged in Playbook below:
“We understand and respect the fact that you are all much better informed about your internal deliberations than any of us, that this is your matter to decide. That is as it should be. However, as long time supporters of your caucus, and given the affection, and more importantly the respect, we have for Nancy, we feel compelled to share our view. …
“But we do believe the competence and effectiveness of the Leader is a critical component in motivating us to reach in our pockets. On that basis it is hard to imagine a replacement for Nancy engendering the same level of confidence at this critical time. Your recent success in winning the majority is only a first step in changing our country’s direction. As critical as it was, the coming cycle is even more so.
“Inserting ourselves into internal House Politics is not something we would normally do. But if we lose Nancy, and the new Leader can only raise half the funding, the Republicans will not reduce their funding and we will be back to the structural disadvantage that prevailed for many years.”
