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1st LD Wriththru: U.S. Democrats re-elect Nancy Pelosi as House minority leader

Xinhua, December 1, 2016 Adjust font size:

U.S. Democrat lawmakers on Wednesday re-elected Nancy Pelosi as House minority leader with 134 votes in favor, and only 63 votes for her challenger Tim Ryan who has strongly argued that the party needs new leadership following the grim failure in the Nov. 8 elections.

Pelosi, a 76-year-old Californian congresswoman, won 68 percent of the votes in a secret ballot, reassuring her long-term grip on the House democrats.

After the election, she has been criticized that her leadership strategy failed to attract the broad coalition of voters nationwide, especially among blue-collar whites in the mid west.

The Wednesday vote sent a message that a majority of Democrats consider the long experience of the current leadership team, combined with Pelosi's celebrated reputation for uniting the caucus, as indispensable assets in the legislative fights to come, a TheHill daily news report commented.

Pelosi vowed on Wednesday to unify the Democrats in efforts to defend President Obama's legislative legacy from the incoming Trump administration and the Republican-controlled chambers, while proposing caucus reforms so as to empower younger Democratic lawmakers who have been frustrated by the lack of leadership opportunities.

Republicans will hold a 241-194 edge in House seats from next year. Enditem