Pelosi re-elected as leader of House Democrats

[caption id="attachment_330372" align="alignnone" width="3000"] WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 30: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), walks up to speak to the media after winning the House Democratic leadership election on Capitol Hill, November 30, 2016 in Washington, DC. Leader Pelosi won the election and will keep her House Minority Leadership position after a challenge from Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH). Mark Wilson/Getty Images/AFP[/caption]

WASHINGTON: Democrat Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday won re-election as minority leader in the US House of Representatives, fending off a strong challenge by a younger lawmaker who called for a change after the party's poor election performance.

"Honored to be elected by my colleagues to serve as Democratic Leader. Let's get to work," the 76-year-old Pelosi said on Twitter, after winning the internal party vote 134 to 63.

Pelosi survived a challenge from congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio to extend her 13-year grip on party control in the chamber.

The seven-term lawmaker Ryan, 43, had drawn support from several Democrats disgruntled by their party's loss in the November 8 presidential election and their failure to gain back many seats in Congress.

Ryan put himself forward as a new-generation leader of a party caucus that stands accused of having forgotten working class voters in middle America, many of whom helped elect anti-establishment billionaire Donald Trump to the White House.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2016