Pelosi after Democrats take House: ‘Tomorrow will be a new day in America’

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) proudly declared, “Tomorrow will be a new day in America” after the Democrats officially flipped the House on Tuesday night. 

As Pelosi delivered the victory speech, she was flanked on both sides by House Democratic leaders and Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Tom Perez at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) watch party. She stood in between two of her grandchildren. 

{mosads}Audience members chanted “speaker” as Pelosi took the stage. 

Chants of “Speaker! Speaker!” as @NancyPelosi takes the stage at the DCCC watch party —> pic.twitter.com/8Qj6lKVXYG

— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) November 7, 2018

She began by thanking the “women and men who have mobilized in historic numbers.”

“We saw what this GOP congress was doing and refused to stand still,” Pelosi said. “Thanks to you, we owned the ground. Thanks to you, tomorrow will be a new day in America.”

She described the Democratic candidates who won on Tuesday night as “dynamic, diverse [and] incredible.” 

“Today is more than about Democrats and Republicans,” she said. “It’s about restoring the constitution’s checks and balances to the Trump administration.” 

Pelosi laid out a vision of a “bipartisan” Congress in which Democrats have a “responsibility to find our common ground when we can, stand our ground where we can.” 

“We’ll have a … bipartisan marketplace of ideas that makes our democracy strong,” she said.

Several networks made the call that Democrats would retake the House after the party flipped 17 seats in races across the country.

Democrats seemed positioned to gain more than 30 seats, and possibly more than 40 with polls closing at 11 p.m. ET in California.

Pelosi in October expressed confidence that she would become Speaker again if Democrats took back the house but described herself as a “transitional figure.” She did not give a timeframe for how long she would want to remain in that post. 

Dozens of progressive candidates across the country said during their campaigns that they would not back Pelosi for speaker, framing her as a member of the Democratic establishment.