Defiant Nancy Pelosi to run for US House minority leader

WASHINGTON - Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic lawmaker who leads the US House of Representatives, said Friday that she wants to remain leader of her party in the chamber despite its drubbing in last week’s congressional election at the hands of Republicans.

The conservative party handed Pelosi’s House Democrats their biggest defeat in decades Tuesday, as a net gain of more than 60 seats put them in firm control of the 435-seat chamber. Republicans also sharply reduced the Democrats’ majority in the Senate.

The landslide victory dealt President Barack Obama a severe blow and had most pundits predicting Pelosi would step aside as leader of the Democrats in the House. But Pelosi announced she was again “running for Dem Leader” via the social networking site Twitter.

She said her decision was “driven by the urgency of creating jobs” and protecting Democratic achievements in reforming health care and financial regulation during her tenure. Republicans campaigned on repealing much of the Democratic legislative agenda.

Pelosi, the first woman ever to become speaker of the House, has been a divisive figure in the electorate and became a fixture of Republican criticism of Democrats in this year’s election campaign.

But it is unclear whether prominent Democratic lawmakers will mount a direct bid to challenge Pelosi.

If re-elected by her party, Pelosi would become minority leader of the chamber. Republican John Boehner, the current minority leader, is expected to be named speaker of the House by his party.