First Women elected to the highest post ever held by a woman in 
Congress. That followed the First woman to run for Vice President.
Way to go Ladies!!!! 
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DEMOCRATS ELECT PELOSI AS NEW WHIP
  
Los Angeles Times        
By Alan Fram, Associated Press Writer
October 10, 2001

WASHINGTON -- House Democrats elected Rep. Nancy Pelosi today 
to be their No. 2 leader, elevating her to the highest post ever held by 
a woman in Congress.

Pelosi, a Californian, prevailed over her only rival, Rep. Steny Hoyer of 
Maryland, in a closed-door, secret-ballot 118-95 vote by the chamber's 
Democrats. She will officially step into the job of Democratic whip on 
Jan. 15, when Rep. David Bonior of Michigan relinquishes the post to 
run for governor.

Pelosi's victory makes her the House Democrats' chief vote counter and 
lieutenant to Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo. And it gives her an 
enormous opportunity to win national prominence, particularly should 
Gephardt step down to run for the presidency or for some other reason.

"Whoever is elected is likely to be speaker of the House some day," 
assuming Democrats win a majority in the chamber, said James 
Thurber, a political scientist at American University.

The victory by Pelosi capped a fierce behind-the-scenes competition 
that was waged for nearly three years.

In opting for Pelosi, Democrats chose the candidate with the more 
liberal voting record and underlined the clout of California, which has 
become a key Democratic stronghold in recent national elections. Its
 52 House seats make it by far the largest delegation in the House, and 
that number will grow to 53 in January 2003 after congressional districts 
are rewritten to conform with last year's census.

Immediately after the vote, Hoyer said in a written statement: "I said 
during my campaign that if I lost I would continue to act on behalf of the 
Democratic Party's principles and policies and I intend to do exactly that."

Pelosi, 61, and Hoyer, 62, are similar in a number of ways.

Their voting records are similar, though Pelosi's is slightly more liberal. 
Both serve on the House Appropriations Committee, a prime spot for 
bringing money back home-- and doing favors for colleagues-- because it 
controls a third of the $2 trillion federal budget.

Both sport well-tailored clothes and have known each other since the 
early 1960s, when they worked for Sen. Daniel Brewster, D-Md. Hoyer 
was born in New York but has had a long political career in Maryland. 
Pelosi is from a prominent Maryland political family, daughter of Thomas 
J. D'Alesandro Jr., a former House member and mayor of Baltimore.

Their biggest difference may be their gender.

Pelosi said she was not seeking support because she hoped to add a 
female face to her party's House leadership, but added, "There's a great 
deal of excitement across the country about it."

Pelosi is an eight-term veteran from San Francisco whose style during 
House debate can be pointed but gentle. She is perhaps best known for 
her frequent battles for abortion rights, funds for AIDS programs and 
human rights in China, yet she also has proven prowess as a money-
raiser for her party.

Hoyer, representing the capital's Maryland suburbs for 11 terms, 
supports abortion rights but also has cast himself as a proponent of 
streamlined government. Quick with a quip or with a perfect sound bite 
for television, Hoyer has recruited many Democratic candidates and 
endeared himself to colleagues in part by working on internal issues 
they care about, such as increasing members' salaries.

Both candidates' campaigns sought to cover all the bases with a 
whirlwind of telephone calls and visits to colleagues' districts for 
fund-raisers.

Pelosi spokesman Jonathan Stivers said she raised more than $4 
million for House Democratic candidates for the 2000 elections and 
$1.6 million so far this year. Stacey Farnen, Hoyer's spokeswoman, 
said the congressman raised $1.3 million for Democrats in the 2000 
races and nearly $400,000 this year. 

 
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HOUSE DEMOCRATS TO PICK MINORITY WHIP

Congress: Nancy Pelosi may become first woman to hold top partisan 
office. Steny H. Hoyer is also vying for post.

Los Angeles Times
The Nation, Page A 20
By Nick Anderson, Staff Writer
October 10, 2001

WASHINGTON -- Filling a key leadership post, House Democrats today will 
choose a new party whip in a contest between a pragmatic Capitol Hill veteran 
from Maryland and a Californian seeking to become the first woman in 
congressional history to hold such a high partisan office.

On one level, the race between Reps. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) and Nancy Pelosi 
(D-San Francisco) is an insider's game.

The chief job of the minority whip, the No. 2 position among 210 House 
Democrats, is to count noses and enforce discipline on important floor votes 
for the party out of power. But more is at stake in today's vote behind 
closed doors. There is regional politics. Californians, who have the largest 
House delegation at 52 members, could have their first voice in top 
leadership since Democrat Tony Coelho (D-Merced) stepped down as House 
majority whip a dozen years ago.

There are party dynamics. Although both lawmakers have liberal records, Hoyer 
might chart a more centrist course than Pelosi--no small issue for a caucus 
often prone to bickering between left- and right-leaning factions.

There is the chance the winner could one day become minority leader or, if 
Democrats retake the narrowly divided House, speaker. In the last 50 years, 
five former party whips have risen to become speaker, including Democrats 
Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr. and Thomas S. Foley and Republican Newt Gingrich. 
The post, with its national exposure, also has been a launching point for 
such notables as Trent Lott, now Senate minority leader, and Vice President 
Dick Cheney.

And there is a significant gender barrier waiting to be broken. No woman in 
the House or Senate has served so high up in the leadership. That alone is 
reason for many Democrats to back Pelosi.

"Everything else being equal, breaking what's been an all-male monopoly of 
leadership in both houses for both parties is a good thing," said Rep. Barney 
Frank (D-Mass.), who is backing Pelosi. "That's probably the major 
difference."

The vote will cap a contest that has been developing behind the scenes for 
more than two years. Hoyer and Pelosi began campaigning in 1999 for party 
whip on the assumption the post would swing open if Democrats captured the 
House in the 2000 election and their current leader, Rep. Richard A. Gephardt 
of Missouri, rose to speaker, and their current whip, Rep. David E. Bonior of 
Michigan, became majority leader.

When that scenario fizzled, the Hoyer-Pelosi contest was suspended. But it 
reignited this year when Bonior, who has been Democratic whip since 1991, 
decided to resign that post to concentrate on a campaign for Michigan 
governor.

Bonior's two would-be successors have much in common. Pelosi is 61 and has 
served 14 years in the House; Hoyer is 62 and has served 20 years. Both are 
senior members of the Appropriations Committee and ranking members of other 
influential panels (Pelosi on the Permanent Select Intelligence Committee and 
Hoyer on the Administration Committee).

Both are heavy fund-raisers and stump widely for Democratic candidates. A 
study by the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington found that Pelosi 
gave $1.1 million to Democratic causes during the 2000 election cycle, 
ranking her behind House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Majority Whip 
Tom DeLay (R-Texas) among congressional campaign donors. Hoyer was not far 
behind, giving $927,000 in the same time.

The two whip contenders even share a Maryland connection. Pelosi's father and 
brother were mayors of Baltimore.

For Pelosi, though, California is a major asset. She has public commitments 
from 30 of the state's 32 Democratic representatives. The only holdouts are 
Reps. Ellen O. Tauscher (D-Alamo), who's backing Hoyer, and Calvin M. Dooley 
(D-Visalia), who has not indicated publicly which way he will vote.

"It's important for a Californian or a Westerner to be at the seat of power," 
Pelosi said in an interview. She said that, drawing on her California base, 
she would bring an "entrepreneurial" attitude to the post that would 
"invigorate the legislative process, to think in new, creative ways."

In the end, Pelosi acknowledged, the vote may turn out to be something of a 
popularity contest. "It's not about voting records," she said. "It's about 
me."

For his part, Hoyer told reporters the key issue is "who's going to run the 
best whip operation, and who's going to reach out to the broadest spectrum of 
our caucus. This ought not to be a campaign of glitz. This is a campaign of 
substance."

Who is winning? The victor will need to gain a simple majority of the 215 
members of the Democratic caucus who show up to vote (210 representatives 
plus 5 nonvoting delegates). Pelosi says she has locked up victory, claiming 
support from at least 120 Democrats. Hoyer scoffs at her total and says he 
has 106 commitments and a surge in momentum.

Some insiders believe the San Franciscan is ahead. But congressional 
leadership races are notoriously hard to handicap. Some lawmakers, wanting to 
alienate neither candidate, are likely to pledge their support to both.

All evidence suggests the contest is close. Pelosi has the endorsement of 
Bonior, which is not necessarily a surprise since Bonior ran against and 
defeated Hoyer for the position 10 years ago. Hoyer, though, has endorsements 
from lawmakers such as Reps. Chet Edwards (D-Texas) and John Lewis (D-Ga.), 
chief deputies in Bonior's whip operation.

Pelosi lists public support from 33 of the 45 women in the caucus. But Hoyer 
on Tuesday picked up the endorsement of the senior female Democrat, Rep. 
Marcy Kaptur of Ohio. Pelosi has the backing of Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), 
a longtime member expert on defense issues. Hoyer has Rep. John D. Dingell 
(D-Mich.), the senior member of the House.