Features

WASHINGTON — California Rep. Nancy Pelosi won the race Wednesday for the No. 2 House Democratic leader and will become the top-ranking woman ever in Congress. Her election sparked debate over whether she will help or hinder her party. 

Pelosi, a liberal eight-term veteran from San Francisco, outpolled rival Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland by 118-95 in a closed-door, secret ballot vote. She will take the post of Democratic whip on Jan. 15 when Rep. David Bonior steps down from that job and concentrates on running for governor of Michigan. 

Both candidates claimed to be best positioned to lead their party back to the House majority it last held in 1994. Pelosi, 61, said she sought no votes on the basis of her gender, but clearly many of her colleagues felt it was time for a woman to enter the leadership circle. 

“This is difficult turf to win on for anyone, but for a woman breaking ground here it was a tough battle,” Pelosi said after the vote. “We made history. Now we have to make progress.” 

Pelosi’s triumph brought praise from groups that traditionally support Democrats. 

“We don’t get to break a glass ceiling in Congress very often,” said Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women. 

Supporters said Pelosi presents Democrats with an appealing package. 

Her base is in one of the country’s more affluent areas, and supporters praised Pelosi’s abilities as a fund raiser. Aides said she has raised $1.6 million for Democratic candidates this year. 

She also is being counted on to enhance the party’s ability to attract women. 

“Most campaigns run on the energy of women,” said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., who helped run Pelosi’s leadership campaign. “This is a major, major step for the future of this party.” 

Other lawmakers from both parties wondered whether Pelosi could overcome the label of being a San Francisco liberal. 

“It makes me feel good as a liberal,” said Rep. James Moran, D-Va., who supported Hoyer. “But I’m not sure it does a lot for our future.” 

“She’s very appealing to the liberal base of her party,” said Ed Gillespie, a Republican consultant who once worked in the House. “But her liberal votes are not likely to be very appealing to the vast majority of the public.” 

Pelosi dismisses such arguments, saying of the San Francisco liberal tag: “When people pose that, they’re thinking in old ways.” 

In private, several Democrats said they worried that Pelosi would push House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., into a more confrontational stance with President Bush and congressional Republicans. The two parties have struggled lately to present a united front following last month’s terrorists attacks. 

These Democrats said Pelosi’s supporters cast her as the voice of Democrats upset with Gephardt for cooperating too much. They cite Gephardt’s agreement to exclude aid for workers from a bill that provided $15 billion for the troubled airline industry. 

Pelosi denied making Gephardt’s work with Republicans an issue and said he has “earned the respect and confidence of the country.” Gephardt took no public position in the contest. 

Even so, she told reporters that Democrats must not completely drop their differences with Bush and Republicans on the economy and other issues. 

“Where we can find common ground, we must find it and embrace it. But we must stand our ground” when we disagree, she said. 

Aides said Pelosi’s winning coalition consisted of overwhelming support from the House Democrats’ 32 Californians, 44 women, 38 blacks and 18 Hispanics, as well as the backing of other Western lawmakers and liberals. 

She also won enough votes from Democratic centrists and conservatives to outflank Hoyer, an 11-term lawmaker from just outside Washington with a slightly more moderate voting record than Pelosi. 

Because of the importance of Californians to Pelosi, her victory was seen as a bow to that state’s power in Congress and in national politics for Democrats. 

California’s 52 House seats – 53 in January 2003 to conform with the new census – make it by far the largest delegation in the House. Also, the state has become crucial to any Democratic presidential candidate’s chances of winning a general election.