Nancy Pelosi Narrowly Wins a Fourth Term as Speaker of the House
THE FLOOR IS HERS
Nancy Pelosi (D-California) has narrowly won her fourth term as House speaker in a Sunday vote that was hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The vote took four and a half hours because lawmakers had to answer roll call and vote in small groups to ensure social distancing. While a handful of Democrats defected from Pelosi’s cause, she won with 216 votes, backed by notable progressives such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Democrats have 222 seats in the new Congress to Republicans’ 211. A New York race is still in dispute and a seat in Louisiana was vacant due to the sudden death of Luke Letlow, who died from COVID-19 complications on Tuesday. Two other Republican lawmakers were absent after being exposed to the virus. Going into the race, Pelosi petitioned support, telling Democrats, “My opponent is COVID.”