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Brendan Kelly Said Dems Need 'New Leadership,' But Now He's At a Pelosi Fundraiser

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April 25, 2018

Illinois Democrat Brendan Kelly said last month he thought the party needed "new leadership" in the House, but he was hosted Wednesday by Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team for a fundraiser in Washington, D.C.

Kelly's decision to firmly declare that he wouldn't support Pelosi followed the win by Conor Lamb in a Pennsylvania special election where Pelosi was rejected from the start. Kelly announced that Pelosi had "not served the people of Southern Illinois" and that he would push for "new leadership" if elected.

On Wednesday afternoon, however, Kelly joined other Indiana Democrats at a Capitol Hill fundraiser hosted by Pelosi and others from the Democratic leadership team, according to an invitation for the event.

Pelosi is headlining the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraiser, but it will also be attended by committee chairman Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D., N.M.), Illinois's two Democratic senators, Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, and numerous House congressmen.

Fundraiser organizers recommended that attendees contribute between $250 and $1,000 to at least two of the candidates at the fundraiser, which was also for Illinois Democrats Sean Casten, Betsy Dirksen Londrigan, and Lauren Underwood.

The other candidates remain undecided on whether they will support Pelosi.

Casten refused to commit either way when ABC asked last month whether he was going to join the wave of Democrats inspired by Lamb's win to buck Pelosi. Londrigan similarly would not answer when asked whether she would support the minority leader.

Representatives for Pelosi would not say whether she planned to address concerns over whether she should continue as leader.

Published under: Illinois , Nancy Pelosi