Ohio Congressman Ryan, in spite of support from Congresswoman Fudge, fails to oust Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives....Fudge is Black and leads Ohio's largely Black 11th congressional district, which includes Cleveland....By editor-in-chief Kathy Wray Coleman of www.clevelandurbannews.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader
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Ohio 11th Congressional District Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge, a Warrensville Heights Democrat, and Ohio 13th Congressional District Congressman Tim Ryan, a Niles Democrat
From left: Ohio 11th Congressional District Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge, a Warrensville Heights Democrat, Minority House Leader Nancy Pelosi, a San Francisco Democrat, and Ohio 9th Congressional District Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, a Toledo Democrat
CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, WASHINGTON, D.C. – In spite of breaking ranks with a majority of congressional Democrats backing the reign of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH), a Warrensville Heights Democrat who leads Ohio's largely Black 11th congressional district, which includes the majority Black city of Cleveland, could not help fellow Ohioan Tim Ryan tumble Pelosi from power.
A San Francisco Democrat, Pelosi 76, served as Speaker of the House from 2007 to 2011, the only woman to hold the prestigious position..
In 2011, after Democrats lost control of the House, she was elected Minority House Leader and has held the post ever since.
On Wednesday she was again reelected, beating Ryan, 43, 134 to 63.
She said, following the close door session that brought her the overwhelming win, that her focus is, in part, unseating President-elect Donald Trump if he seeks reelection in 2020, and that she is reinvigorated and has "more spring in her step."
Fudge, who is Black, was among less than a dozen Democrats that jumped aboard at the last minute to support Ryan, a Niles Democrat and possible candidate for governor of Ohio in 2018.
Other congressional Democrats joining Fudge against Pelosi include Reps. Jim Cooper (Tenn.), Kurt Schrader (Ore.) Alcee Hastings (Fla.), Beto O'Rourke (Texas), Ed Perlmutter (Colo.) and Kathleen Rice (N.Y.).
And by the time the vote came down, Ryan had 63 Democrats in his corner, though not enough.
"After spending considerable time contemplating the future of the House Democratic Caucus and our party, I have decided to support Tim Ryan for House Minority Leader,'"Fudge said in a Nov. 22 press release to Cleveland Urban News.Com, Ohio's Black digital news leader. "Democrats have experienced significant losses in the House and Senate, yet members have been asked for little to no input to address the reasons for these losses."
Fudge is a former chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus and she chaired the DNC this past summer in Philadelphia.
Ryan, who has represented Ohio's 13th congressional district since 2003, was gracious in defeat and said Wednesday that Democrats in Congress remain unified.
He said that a cadre of voters that support him voted for Trump and that he would have been more effective than Pelosi "in pulling back Trump voters."
The Republicans, since Donald Trump's unprecedented win over Hillary Clinton last month, now control the White House, and after gaining control of the House of Representatives in 2010, and the Senate in 2014.
Trump will succeed two-term President Barack Obama, a Democrat and the first Black president of the United States of America.
Congressional Democrats, Black leaders and others are angry over Trump's selection of some members of his transition team and cabinet, which is ongoing, including his senior counsel and chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon.
Pelosi has called the selection of Bannon racist and joined some 160 members of Congress, mainly Democrats, including Fudge, Ryan, and Marcy Kaptur, a Toledo Democrat and the longest serving woman in Congress, in calling for Trump to withdraw his appointment of Bannon.
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