Dem rep: Crowley loss forced reevaluation of party leadership

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) said that Rep. Joseph Crowley’s (D-N.Y.) primary loss last month has prompted many Democrats to rethink the future of their party’s leadership and suggested that he could mount another bid to replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as the Democratic leader.

“The Crowley race changed a lot for a lot of us,” Ryan told Politico in an interview. “There was a lot of assumption that he was going to be moving forward in leadership, and so losing that election put everybody in a state of mind to reevaluate what was happening.”

Crowley, the No. 4 House Democrat, was soundly defeated in his June primary by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old progressive and first-time candidate for public office.

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His defeat was a blow to the establishment wing of the Democratic Party led in Congress by Pelosi. Crowley was widely seen as a possible successor to Pelosi, who has served as the House’s top Democrat for more than a decade.

Crowley’s defeat underscored an ongoing question among many Democrats about the direction of their party following Hillary Clinton’s 2016 loss to President Trump.

Many in the party have called for a more progressive tone and have embraced the platform of more left-leaning figures, like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Others, like Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez, have advocated for a “big tent” approach that seeks to bring in more voters and candidates outside Democratic strongholds.

Ryan is among a handful of Democrats who have called for a new generation of leadership to replace Pelosi. He mounted a long-shot bid for minority leader in 2016, ending up with only about a third of the caucus’s votes.

He told Politico on Monday that he has been approached by several colleagues about mounting a new challenge to Pelosi’s leadership. But he said he would not do so unless he thought he had a shot of ousting the California Democrat.

“I wouldn’t get in unless I thought I could win,” he said. “I’m not going to do it just to do it.”