Ohio Congresswoman Marcia Fudge to likely run for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives against Nancy Pelosi, Fudge, whose largely Black congressional district includes Cleveland, and other Pelosi critics meeting with Pelosi this week.... Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was again chosen by his Republican colleagues as Senate Majority Leader....One of two Blacks in congress from Ohio, Fudge said she helped Democrats reclaim the House too via this year's midterm elections when posed the question of whether Pelosi of California has earned the position of House speaker, a response that political pundits say is indicative of Fudge's likelihood of taking on Pelosi relative to the House speaker position....By Kathy Wray Coleman of Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com.
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| Ohio 11th Congressional District Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge (left), a Warrensville Heights Democrat who is poised to take on House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (right) in the fight for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives |
By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor
CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio- Ohio 11th Congressional District Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge, a Warrensville Heights Democrat who is one of two Blacks in congress from Ohio and whose congressional district includes most of the majority Black areas between Cleveland and Akron and several of Cleveland's eastern suburbs, is toying with the possibility of running against House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California for the prominent position of speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
"She was the person who over the last eight years lost seats," Fudge told a CNN reporter of Pelosi, after saying she has not ruled out a run for House speaker.
If she were to win over Pelosi, Fudge would become the first Black speaker of the House, a history making endeavor.
Fudge, 66, has served as the U.S. Representative for Ohio's 11th congressional district since 2008.
She won a special election to succeed Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who died in office, and has since been reelected several times, and by huge margins.
A former national president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc and former Warrensville Heights mayor, Fudge, a trained lawyer, was chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus[ in the 113th Congress.
Pelosi, who served as House Speaker from 2007-2011 when Republicans, who control the Senate, reclaimed control of the House only to lose it this year to Pelosi and the Democrats via the November midterm elections, met Friday with Fudge and other Democratic critics in congress.
Asked why she would even consider running against Pelosi after Pelsoi helped the Dems regain control of the House this year, Fudge said " I helped the Democrats too," an indication, say political pundits, that the Black federal lawmaker is ready and willing to take on Pelosi via a Democratic congressional vote for House speaker scheduled for after the Thanksgiving Holiday and a full House vote scheduled for early January.
Some 18 congressional Democrats have publicly said they will not back Pelosi to lead the House beginning in 2019, and the number is growing, though it pales in comparison to the number of Democrats in the House.
Going into the midterm elections there were 237 Republicans (including 1 Delegate and the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico), 197 Democrats (including 4 Delegates), and 7 vacant seats. The Senate, data show, had 51 Republicans, 47 Democrats, and 2 Independents, who both caucus with the Democrats.
Led by the METOO movement, Democrats, led by newly elected women across the country, gained 33 seats via the midterm elections in the House and improved their control of the chamber to 228 to 198, though nine elections around the country are still undecided.
Senate Republicans gained only one seat, projections reveal, to maintain control of the Senate, 51 to 47.
The Senate voted this week to keep the same leadership next year, as Republicans and Democrats elected Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer respectively to lead their respective caucuses
Congressman Tim Ryan, a Youngstown-area Democrat who tried unsuccessfully two years ago to oust Pelosi as House Minority Leader with Fudge's help but lost by a 2-1 margin, has said publicly that he will not run for House speaker.
Several congressional Democrats campaigned this year with the promise of working to oust Pelosi, 78, as the chief Democratic leader of the House.
Pelosi was House Minority Whip from 2002 to 2003, and was House Minority Leader from 2003 to 2007 before she became speaker of the House in 2007 when the Republicans lost the House, the Republicans again gaining control of the House in 2011 and Pelosi stepping down as House speaker and up again as House Minority Leader.
She is the first woman to lead a majority party in congress.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
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