Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) was reelected House minority leader on Wednesday, keeping her in charge of the chamber's Democratic Caucus despite an insurgent challenge to her leadership role.
Pelosi, who has served as the top House Democrat since 2003 and was speaker from 2007 to 2011, was endorsed by the National Republican Congressional Committee earlier this month. The NRCC backed Pelosi's bid for reelection against rivals challenging her leadership role because of the GOP's success in recent elections during her tenure.
"The NRCC would like to offer its full support to the embattled former speaker of the House," the NRCC said in a press release on Nov. 17. "Under Nancy Pelosi’s leadership, House Democrats squandered their majority by forcing through unpopular legislation like Obamacare."
The California lawmaker's leadership has been questioned by some in her caucus since the Democrats' poor showing in the 2016 elections on Nov. 8, when the party lost the presidency and remained in the minority in both houses of Congress. Republicans have controlled the House of Representatives since 2010.
Rep. Tim Ryan (D. Ohio) had launched a bid to unseat Pelosi as House minority leader, arguing that the Democratic Party needs a "new message and new messenger."
He has said after the election that the Democratic Party is no longer a national party, only representing the coasts and ignoring Middle America, which turned out in support of Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton.
Despite coming up short, Ryan did surprisingly well in his leadership bid, garnering 63 votes from House Democrats to Pelosi's 134 votes.
Pelosi wins! 134-63
— John Bresnahan (@BresPolitico) November 30, 2016