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WASHINGTON — Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a California liberal, easily won election Thursday as leader of minority House Democrats and swiftly set a goal of crafting a “down the center” program for economic growth. 

“Hopefully, we can find a great deal of common ground with Republicans” across a range of issues, said the 62-year-old, a veteran of 15 years in Congress. “But where not, we will put up the fight.” 

With her victory, Pelosi became the first woman leader of either party in Congress. “I’ve been waiting over 200 years,” she quipped, but the triumph, when it came, was an easy one. She defeated Rep. Harold Ford of Tennessee on a vote of 177-29. 

Pelosi takes the helm of a party that has been out of power in the House for eight years, and suffered a dispiriting loss of seats in last week’s elections. She succeeds Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri, who stepped down after four terms as minority leader. 

In the run-up to the leadership election, Pelosi’s Democratic critics had said her liberal brand of politics could pose a problem for a party struggling to regain a majority. But she moved to blunt such criticism in the hours before her election, appointing Rep. John Spratt, a South Carolina moderate with experience in military and budget issues, as her assistant. 

And on Wednesday night, she was among a minority of the Democratic rank and file to vote in favor of legislation creating a Department of Homeland Security, a measure that drew criticism from organized labor. 

In remarks to reporters, Pelosi stressed that Democrats “stand shoulder to shoulder with the president in support of our young men and women in uniform, and in the fight against terrorism.” 

“Where we can find common ground on the economy, and on other domestic issues, we shall seek it,” she said. “...Where we cannot find that common ground, we must stand our ground.” 

The election marked a personal triumph for Pelosi who came to Congress in 1987 and was elected to the second-ranking leadership position a year ago. She has used her time in the House to concentrate on intelligence issues as well as the concerns of her district in San Francisco, combatting AIDS among them. 

It also marked a watershed event for Democrats, who elected a new top-to-bottom leadership for the first time since losing their majority in 1994. 

Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland was elected whip. New Jersey Rep. Robert Menendez, a Hispanic, won the race to become chairman of the caucus, and Rep. James Clyburn, a former head of the Congressional Black Caucus, was elected vice chairman of the caucus, the fourth-ranking leadership post. 

“Isn’t this a picture of America?” Pelosi said as the new leaders emerged from their closed-door caucus. 

Republicans on both sides of the Capitol said they welcomed the election of a liberal from the West Coast to lead the Democrats. “It means the Democratic party will shift much further to the left,” said Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., outgoing chairman of the GOP senatorial campaign committee. 

Democrats disputed that. “The morale is buoyant. She is our leader. She is going to lead us to majority status and Tom DeLay is going to be her foil,” said Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va. DeLay, the combative conservative Texas Republican, was elected majority leader by House Republicans on Wednesday. 

Pelosi sidestepped a question about setting a contrast with DeLay, saying Democrats would seek to “build a consensus around an economic growth message, and that will be right down the center. So it’s not about contrast right to left. It’s about a message for economic growth.” 

She offered no hint on what elements would be included in a new Democratic economic program. The party did not offer a budget alternative to the GOP spending blueprint last year. And mindful of numerous competitive congressional races in the South and the West, Gephardt declined to call for the repeal of portions of Bush’s tax cuts that have not yet taken effect.