Dem rep: ‘This idea that you just can’t win with Nancy Pelosi is just plain wrong’

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) on Monday broke his silence on whether he would support House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) bid for Speaker, saying he will back her after a series of negotiations. 

Himes, a member of the centrist New Democrat Coalition, said on “CNN Newsroom” that it is “wrong” for her detractors to say that Democrats “can’t win with Nancy Pelosi.”

{mosads}”The whole attack on Leader Pelosi was that you can’t win with Nancy Pelosi,” Himes said. 

“Well son of a a gun, we won in Oklahoma, we won in Kansas, we won in South Carolina, places we never imagined we would win,” he said, referring to the midterm elections. “So this idea that you can’t win with Nancy Pelosi is just plain wrong.” 

Himes has previously expressed concern about the 78-year-old Pelosi’s age. 

He said on Monday that House Democrats should still plan for “a younger group of leaders” to eventually take over. 

“So does that mean that you can’t be plotting a succession, a younger group of leaders that will eventually take over?” Himes asked. “Of course we need to do that. But the whole attack on Nancy Pelosi is just not consistent with what happened.” 

Pelosi has faced obstacles in her bid for the Speaker’s gavel, including a group of more than a dozen Democrats who signed onto a letter saying they will not support her. Pelosi’s team has launched an aggressive campaign on her behalf, encouraging allies and supporters to release public statements backing her bid.  

Some of her highest-profile detractors have stepped back from their criticisms in the past week, however, with a few stating publicly that they will vote for her after all. 

Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), who briefly eyed a bid to challenge Pelosi, last week said she will endorse her. Fudge said Pelosi offered to make Fudge the chairwoman of a restored subcommittee on elections. 

Nine Democrats with the Problem Solvers Caucus on Sunday evening released a set of three House rules changes that they want to see Pelosi back publicly in exchange for their support. She is set to meet with them this week to negotiate.