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Lamb Votes Against Pelosi for Speaker

For the second session in a row, Rep. Conor Lamb voted someone other than Nancy Pelosi for House Speaker.

He was the only member of the Pennsylvania congressional delegation not to support their respective party’s candidate for Speaker.

Instead Lamb (D-Allegheny) voted for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), a colleague seen as having a bright future in House leadership. In 2019, Lamb voted for former Rep. Patrick Kennedy III. In both cases, he was one of just a handful of Pelosi defectors.

His vote was watched closely thanks to a signature campaign promise during his 2018 special election bid. He ran ads touting his opposition to Pelosi throughout the campaign. 

Due to GOP success in the 2020 election, Pelosi’s margin of victory was slimmer than last session. Ultimately she earned 216 votes, while 209 Republicans backed House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). 

Pelosi even flipped several Democrats who didn’t support her previous bid. According to Politico, Reps. Kurt Schrader (D-OR), Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Ron Kind (D-WI), Jim Cooper (D-TN) and Jason Crow (D-CO) all backed her 2021 bid after voting against her during the previous session of Congress. 

Lamb’s victory was the closest reelection bid in the state during the 2020 election. He secured his second full term in Congress by defeating GOP challenger Sean Parnell by just over 2 points in the 17th Congressional District.

6 Responses

  1. Why do some Democrats have a problem with winning? Why is political purity more important than holding the seat? Would Democrats be happier if Lamb voted for Pelosi and Parnell won the seat? Apparently some would be. Politics is a team sport. If a hitter bunts to get on base, why complain that he didn’t swing away? At the purely symbolic price of a vote against Nancy Pelosi, we have a vote that can control the calendar and the agenda. Somewhere down the line, when another Democrat in a dark blue district needs to vote against a bill because, for example, it doesn’t spend enough money on COVID19 relief to satisfy the constituents in that district, there will be a vote that Pelosi can get to pass the bill. Nancy Pelosi is a smart enough politician to understand that and everyone else should get on board and stop their whining. If a vote against Pelosi for speaker is what it takes to deprive Moscow Mitch of another seat, why would someone be against that?

  2. Does he really think that will help him win the nomination for Toomey’s soon to be vacant Senate seat? He’s just proved he can’t even step up when the margin is so close.
    If Dems want someone even more conservative than Casey, they might as well vote for a Republican. Which is about what Lamb is.

    1. Dear member of Styx….unless Lamb wants to be defeated like Fetterman will be when running against a Republican in 2022, the Pelosi vote was a good vote. I think its so naive to look at how Pa had taken hard right turn and see how only a centrist like Biden can win to think that a Progressive can defeat a Republican.

        1. Yes, of course, Pelosi let him, and yes, of course the west has gone further red.
          My problem with him is that he wants the Senate seat.

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