Democratic congressperson-elect Jared Golden reiterated Monday his plans to vote against Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi for Speaker of the House.
Golden's comments come as 16 Democrats releaseda letter announcing that they too have chosen not to support the California Democrat.
The letter, addressed to members of the House Democratic Caucus, illustrates the threat to Pelosi's bid to reclaim the speaker's gavel. It describes Pelosi as an historic figure, but says that many Democrats ran and won with a message of change.
Golden didn’t sign the letter, but he made similar comments last week after the nation's first ranked-choice voting runoff solidified his victory over Republican Incumbent Congressperson Bruce Poliquin. Golden said he'd been approached about signing the letter, but declined because he wants 2nd District voters to know he's going to Congress to work on their behalf, not engage in high profile, intra-party leadership squabbles.
"I'm not looking to be defined as someone that is there in opposition, but rather someone that's there serious about doing the job and doing the work,” Golden said. “It's a piece of paper. I could care less about it.”
Golden also says he still plans to vote for another candidate for speaker when the Democratic caucus convenes later next week and on the floor on Jan. 3.
"It's the vote that is meaningful, in terms of sticking to your guns and standing by your principles," he said. "And I'm gonna stand by the fact that I think it's time to pass a torch to a new leadership team in our party.”
Pelosi has been a lightning rod for Republican attacks for years, and most acutely in congressional campaigns when GOP candidates often attempted to tie her to Democratic candidates in swing districts. That was true in Golden's race against Poliquin this year, even though Golden announced early on that he would oppose her bid for speaker if Democrats claimed the majority after the November election. Democrats have claimed 232 seats in the House and Pelosi needs 218 votes to become speaker, meaning she can afford just 15 defections.
So far, no Democrat has officially announced that they'll step in to challenge Pelosi, who has led the caucus for 16 years. Golden says that could change after next week's internal caucus election.
He has mentioned two Democrats that he could support, Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton, a fellow Marine combat veteran, and Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos, a four-term member representing a district that, much like Maine's 2nd District, has elected both Republicans and Democrats in the past. Moulton was among the Democrats that signed Monday's letter, and Bustos was not.
