House Speaker Pelosi to Run for Minority Leader

WASHINGTON—House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she will run for the post of minority leader in the new Congress, rather than bow to Democratic critics who want her to step down after the drubbing her party took in the midterm elections.

"Our work is far from finished,'' Ms. Pelosi said in a letter to colleagues released Friday.

It continued: "We have no intention of allowing our great achievements to be rolled back. It is my hope that we can work in a bipartisan way to create jobs and strengthen the middle class.

In the days since Democrats lost control of the House, the California Democrat has been canvassing colleagues about her future, despite pressure from conservatives for her to leave. Democrats lost 60 seats in Tuesday's election, with a handful of races still too close to call.

"This was an earthquake of an election," said Rep. Jim Matheson (D., Utah), chairman of the conservative Blue Dog Coalition. "When you suffer this kind of loss, you've got to shake up your leadership."

But in her letter, Ms. Pelosi said she heard a different message from others.

"Many of our colleagues have called with their recommendations on how to continue our fight for the middle class, and have encouraged me to run for House Democratic Leader. Based on those discussions, and driven by the urgency of protecting health care reform, Wall Street reform, and Social Security and Medicare, I have decided to run."

Write to Janet Hook at janet.hook@dowjones.com

Source:http://online.wsj.com/