Pelosi: ‘I fear for our democracy’ if Republicans win House

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in an interview published Monday that she fears for American democracy if Republicans win the House in this year’s midterm elections.

Republicans are highly favored to win the House in November given that they need to flip only five seats, along with the historic tendency for the incumbent president’s party to lose seats in Congress during midterm elections.

Pelosi framed the stakes of the fight for the House in existential terms given the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and former President Trump’s continued influence over the Republican Party.

“It is absolutely essential for our democracy that we win. I fear for our democracy if the Republicans were ever to get the gavel. We can’t let that happen,” Pelosi said during an interview with Time magazine’s Molly Ball as part of a virtual ceremony to award the 2022 Toner Prizes for political journalism.

At the same time, Pelosi downplayed the notion that Democrats face an uphill climb to keep their slim House majority.

“I don’t have any intention of the Democrats losing the Congress in November,” Pelosi said.

She pointed to initial predictions by political analysts that once-per-decade redistricting alone would doom Democrats’ chances to keep the House given that Republicans control most state legislatures.

The Supreme Court earlier this month ruled to allow redistricting plans in North Carolina and Pennsylvania that are more favorable to Democrats.

In addition, state legislatures controlled by Democrats such as New York and Illinois have completed congressional redistricting that was more favorable to the party.

Pelosi predicted that Democrats would pick up seats to pad their majority, not lose them.

“Everybody said redistricting was going to be horrible for the Democrats. Remember that? Not so. Not so. If anything, we’ll pick up seats rather than lose 10 to 15, which conventional wisdom said that we would. There’s nothing conventional anymore, and it certainly ain’t wisdom,” Pelosi said.

Yet Republicans point to factors such as President Biden’s approval rating as signs they’re poised to win in November. An NBC News poll released over the weekend found that Biden’s approval rating had declined to 40 percent, the lowest of his presidency to date.

The poll also found that Republicans had a 2-point lead in respondents’ preference for control of Congress.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) predicted that Republicans will win a sizable majority in November, unlike the narrow one Democrats currently hold.

“We’re going to win the majority, and it’s not going to be a five-seat majority,” McCarthy told Punchbowl News in an interview last week.