Rep. Seth Moulton (D., Mass.) said Thursday that Americans have sent Democrats a "clear message" that they need to change after a recent spate of "horrific" elections.
For the fourth consecutive election cycle, the Republicans won control of the House of Representatives. In addition to Republican President-elect Donald Trump's victory over Hillary Clinton, the GOP also retained the Senate.
This week, Moulton successfully forced a delay of Democratic leadership elections until after Thanksgiving. While House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) says she enjoys strong support from her colleagues, although Moulton said he has his doubts and that other Democrats have come forward and want to consider "other options."
Moulton said he had not lost confidence in Pelosi, but Democrats need to take a long look at themselves.
"What I am saying is that we need to have a serious discussion within our party, because the last few elections have been horrific," he said. "The last three or four elections in the House have been terrible. We lost the White House, the Senate ... We only have 16 governorships across the country, and we don't have a majority of the state legislatures, so the American people have sent a clear message to us Democrats that the status quo is not acceptable."
Moulton said Pelosi has done "extraordinary" things for the Democratic Party, but he still wanted a plan for the future.
"What I'm saying is we ought to have several different competing views and lay out a plan for the future, the best strategy to carry our caucus and our party forward," he said. "If Nancy Pelosi has the best strategy, then we should vote for her, but let's hear some competing views."
No one has officially stepped forward to challenge Pelosi, but Rep. Tim Ryan (D., Ohio) is reportedly mulling such a run.