If Dems Take House Majority
By Dan Murphy
With the “blue wave” of Democratic enthusiasm already haven overtaken Westchester and most of New York State, political observers are now counting the number of House of Representative seats that Democrats will need to flip, and win, Nov. 6 in order to re-take the majority.
Currently, there are 241 Republicans and 194 Democrats, meaning Democrats need to win 24 seats currently held by Republicans to have a 218-217 majority.
If Democrats take control of the House, the current Democratic House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi would become speaker, if she can gain the support of a majority of her Democratic colleagues, several of which have expressed a preference for another face for the Democratic House majority.
In 2007, Pelosi became the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history. She lost the speaker’s gavel in 2011, but recently said, “It is absolutely vital that women leaders take their rightful seat at the table – at the head of the table.”
One of Pelosi’s staunchest allies and colleague of more than 30 years is Congresswoman Nita Lowey, who has served Westchester County in Washington since 1988. Lowey, who now represents northern Westchester and Rockland counties in the 17th district, has amassed so much seniority that she would become the first woman in history to chair the powerful Appropriations Committee, if two things happen this election cycle:
Lowey has to be re-elected to her 16th term in November, and Democrats need to take 24 seats and regain the House majority. If both happens, Lowey would be one of 35 women who are poised to lead committees and subcommittees in the next Congress – a historically high figure that would put female lawmakers in the driver’s seat for some of the most pressing issues facing Congress and the country.
Democrats are also hoping to use Lowey, and the number of women ready to take over the reins of House committees, as a slogan for their fall election campaign of “The Year of the Woman.”
The election of President Donald Trump in 2016 has resulted in a wave of interest from Democratic female candidates to step forward, run for office, and stand opposed to Trump.
One of Lowey’s House Democratic colleagues, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, from Connecticut, spoke about the number of issues that Democrats can and should be running on this fall for a recent issue of The Hill, including women’s health care, domestic violence, equal pay and family leave. The 2018 cycle is the first since the anti-harassment #MeToo movement swept the country.
The prominence of Lowey in Westchester,and the decline of the Republican Party in Westchester,is evident in the fact that Lowey has no Republican opponent this fall. Her only opposition comes from Reform Party candidate Joe Ciardullo, from New City in Rockland County.
Ciardullo said he wanted to run on the Republican line but the GOP was either to lazy or just
decided to raise the white flag. We realize that Rep. Lowey is a difficult candidate but republicans need to run candidates for every office or hand the opposition party banner to someone else. More on Ciardullo and some other David vs. Goliath candidates in future weeks.
In 2000, Lowey was considered to be a leading Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from New York, but stepped aside so that Hillary Clinton could run, and win.
