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Pelosi Eyes Becoming House Speaker Again

Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi / AP
October 17, 2016

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) has her eyes set on becoming speaker of the House once again.

House Democrats are working to regain a majority in the chamber, not just cut down the Republicans’ lead, Politico reported Monday. Republicans currently hold 60 more seats than Democrats, so if Democrats can swing a net total of more than 30 seats to their side, they will retake the majority.

Pelosi led the Democrats to take the House in 2006, becoming the first female speaker. She lost the position, however, after Republicans took 63 seats away from Democrats in a massive wave election in 2010. The GOP has maintained a strong majority in the chamber since then. After Democrats were relegated to the minority six years ago, Pelosi was pressured to step aside from leading House Democrats. She refused.

Democrats are also trying to regain control of the the Senate in November, with Republicans defending a majority of the seats that are up for grabs. Many observers believe Donald Trump is having a negative effect on down-ballot Republican races, leading to potential problems for Republican House and Senate candidates in swing districts and states. Many polls thus far suggest that Trump is not having as large an effect on down-ballot Republicans as some had initially thought.