Former Pelosi challenger: I have no ‘interest in running for leadership again’

Rep. Tim Ryan (Ohio), who launched a failed bid against Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) for leadership of House Democrats, said Tuesday he is not interested in a second bid.

“I really don’t have any interest in running for leadership again,” Ryan told the Fox Business Network’s Neil Cavuto. “I spoke my piece. I felt compelled to do it in part because no one else was going to and I felt like, you know, we needed to have a national conversation and so I have no interest in doing it now.”

The Ohio Democrat, who has been in Congress since 2002, saw his profile grow over his failed bid to oust Pelosi and his repeated calls for the Democrats to work harder for the middle class.

{mosads}He said that he has disagreements with the Democratic leadership and thinks the party needs to get back on message.

“Democrats [have] got to jump on this economic message and wages, pensions and the kind of things that are important to working-class people whether they’re white, black, brown,” Ryan said.

Ryan is considered a possible contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. He has made two trips to Iowa and three to New Hampshire, the first states in the presidential primaries.

Ryan said he doesn’t know if he would vote for Pelosi if she were to run for Democratic leadership again and has to wait to see “what things look like in a year from now.”

“But I do think we’ve got to continue to get new faces out there and talk about these issues that are important,” Ryan said.

In 2016, Pelosi got 134 votes from the Democratic caucus, compared to Ryan’s 63.