Fattah: Pelosi Should Remain Democratic House Leader

Rep. Chaka Fattah (D) has quickly made clear who he feels should lead the Democratic House caucus as it makes sense of its new status as a minority party.

Fattah said in a news release Friday he feels Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the current speaker of the House, should remain in her role as party leader with Democrats reorganizing themselves before the 112th Congress begins work.

The congressman, whose district covers Roxborough and Manayunk and Nov. 2, said he is buoyed by the fact that Pelosi led the Democratic takeover of Congress in 2006. He said he feels her leadership is what the Democratic party needs now.

"She has proven herself to be one of the most effective speakers of all time," Fattah said in the release.

Pelosi said she will run for speaker again in the wake of a bad election cycle for Democrats. In Pennsylvania, —Republican Tom Corbett defeated Democrat Dan Onorato in a race for governor, and Republican Pat Toomey beat Democrat Joe Sestak in a race for U.S. Senate—and nationally, they lost their House majority and lost Senate seats.

According to CNN, several moderate Democrats—including Rep. Jason Altmire, whose district is in western Pennsylvania—have said they do not encourage Pelosi to run again for the leadership post.

Others, however, have encouraged her to run. Fattah is one of them.

"Whether the challenge is economic recovery, financial regulation, health care or environmental protection, the speaker has shown an impressive ability to bring our diverse caucus together to resolve difficult issues and build an agenda to move the country forward," Fattah said in the release. "We will be facing difficult decisions in the next two years and I know that she is the leader America needs."

Fattah defeated Republican Rick Hellberg to retain his seat as 2nd District congressman.