Tim Ryan is in the House minority leader race against Nancy Pelosi, telling fellow Democrats in a letter that the party needed new direction after Donald Trump's election.
"I have spent countless hours meeting and talking to members of our caucus, and the consensus is clear," Ryan, 43, of Ohio, wrote in the letter that he also posted on his Facebook page. "What we are doing right now is not working.
"Under our current leadership, Democrats have been reduced to our smallest congressional minority since 1929. This should indicate to all of us that keeping our leadership team completely unchanged will simply lead to more disappointment in future elections."
Ryan said the Democrats need a clear message that they fight for economic opportunities for all and to create what he calls "America 2.0 – a multicultural, progressive, and innovative country that fights every day for ordinary people."
Cleveland.com pointed out that president-elect Donald Trump did well in the heart of Ryan's Congressional district in Mohoning and Trumbull counties in northeastern Ohio. Trumbull County voted Republican for the first time since 1972 and Clinton had to fight to hold onto Mohoning, another longtime Democratic stronghold.
"This is a big decision as to what the Democratic Party stands for and what the message is and who is the messenger to go into these areas," Ryan told Real Clear Politics.
Pelosi, who has represented San Francisco in Congress for nearly 30 years, served as the country's first female Speaker of the House, from 2007 to 2011, said her biography. She remained at the House's minority leader after the Republican took control of the body in 2012.
"To be a strong voice for hard-working families and to uphold the values we cherish as Americans, House Democrats must be unified, strategic and unwavering," Pelosi wrote in her own letter to the party on Wednesday, per Real Clear Politics. "These qualities took us to victory in 2006 and I believe they will do so again. We must start now."
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