WASHINGTON — In a marathon soul-searching session, House Democrats grappled Tuesday with their loss of at least 60 seats in the midterm elections while trying to plot a path as the minority party.
Huddled in private in a basement meeting room at the Capitol, Democrats spent the afternoon listening as their defeated colleagues spoke about their losses, sometimes in emotional tones, according to lawmakers. After 4 1/2 hours, they took a break for a series of routine floor votes, only to resume their private session afterward.
The meeting came on the eve of today’s leadership elections, which are likely to reinstall the same team that oversaw the election defeat. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is expected to win the race for minority leader and place her current lieutenants in the posts beneath her.
This has caused consternation among some Democrats.
Outside the meeting, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., told reporters that he had at least 19 signatures on a proposal to delay leadership elections until after Thanksgiving, to let the losses sink in.
As the meeting got underway at noon, Rep. David Wu, D-Ore., proposed a resolution to permit each of the roughly 50 defeated Democrats to speak for five minutes, which was quickly followed by a decision to allow every member of the 255-member caucus to speak if they wanted to do so.
“People are being forthright,” Wu said of the deliberations. “It’s a very positive thing.”
Pelosi still has a large reservoir of goodwill among her colleagues because of her legislative and political victories.
“It would be exactly the wrong thing to do for her to go away,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill.
Her supporters said Pelosi recounted her eight-year run as minority leader and then speaker.
“She took over a caucus that had lost five consecutive elections, and at a time when people thought we’d never win again, she brought us to two victories,” said Rep. Robert Andrews, D-N.J.
Rep. Heath Shuler, D-N.C., Pelosi’s lone challenger for minority leader, said she has pushed the party too far to the left. He said he told her privately that her image was too bruised to lead the party back to the majority.
“When I played in the NFL, and you lost significantly, you were replaced, and I had that conversation direct with her,” the former Washington Redskins quarterback said.
In the Senate, Harry Reid, D-Nev., will continue as leader of a reduced Democratic majority, with Richard Durbin of Illinois remaining as the whip. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., will take on new communication and strategic responsibilities as both vice chairman of the Democratic caucus and chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee.
Sen. Patty Murray, who won a tough re-election campaign in Washington, will remain the No. 4 member of the elected leadership team.
On the Republican side, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was re-elected leader, with Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona remaining as the No. 2, followed by Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Sen. John Thune of South Dakota.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who ran the successful operation that netted Republicans six seats Nov. 2, will again head the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 2012 elections.
The New York Times contributed to this report.
