WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With Democrats set to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives in January, lawmakers now need to decide who should serve as speaker.

  • Lawmakers have to decide who should serve as Speaker of the House.
  • NC's three Democrats in the House express support for Nancy Pelosi.
  • President Trump has alll but endorsed Pelosi. 

All three of North Carolina’s Democrats are expressing support for Nancy Pelosi in her bid to regain the speaker's gavel.

Congressman GK Butterfield, who represents North Carolina's first district, says that given the contentious climate in Washington, experience is needed. He wants the current leadership team to remain in place.

"We’re going to have to stand up to Donald Trump and the Republicans and we need strong, seasoned experienced leadership," he said. "We don’t need those who come in now to engage in on the job training."

Pelosi previously served as speaker between 2007 and 2011, making history as the first woman to do so. During that time, she helped usher the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, through to passage.

Since 2011, Pelosi and her deputies have remained in high-ranking Democratic positions. Pelosi currently serves as minority leader. All told, she is been a member of House Democratic leadership for well over a decade.

While Pelosi has expressed confidence that she can regain the top spot, a group of 17 Democrats is complicating matters. They are pledging to not vote for her, saying a new generation of leadership is needed, with a younger face at the top.

However, Rep. David Price, who represents North Carolina's 4th district, said it is not clear who Pelosi's successor would be.

"I’d like to see her in that spot right now, I also would like to see the new generation coming on, and those two things are not contradictory," he said.

Rep. Alma Adams, who represents the Charlotte region, sent a letter to her colleagues encouraging them to pick Pelosi and keep the other top Democratic leaders in place, arguing they will do work to help Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

 

 

What do Republicans think of all this? Pelosi is often a favorite target of the GOP during campaign season. North Carolina's newly-elected congressman Mark Harris, for example, repeatedly tried to attach his opponent, Democrat Dan McCready, to Pelosi during debates.

Harris said if she's in the top post, it could make it difficult for both sides to come to together.

"I can only hope that there is going to be some sense of bipartisanship that can emerge, I’m not overly hopeful with her leadership because of the rhetoric that she has been using," Harris argued.

For his part, the President has all but endorsed Pelosi, tweeting that "She has earned this great honor!"

 

 

House Democrats will pick their leaders after Thanksgiving, with a final vote on speaker coming when the new Congress is sworn in in early January.