Pelosi supports Murtha for majority leader

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said she supports Rep. John Murtha for the post of majority leader, bypassing the current No. 2, Steny Hoyer.

"For all you have done for Democrats in the past and especially this last year, I am pleased to support your candidacy for majority leader for the 110th Congress," Pelosi wrote in a letter to Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat, released Sunday.

Murtha, 73, last year called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, a move that Pelosi in her letter said "changed the national debate" and made Iraq a central issue in the Nov. 7 midterm elections. He is close to Pelosi, 66, a California Democrat who is in line to become speaker when her party takes control of the House in January.

Announcing her support poses potential risks for Pelosi if Democrats fail to align with her, said Tom Mann, a congressional scholar at the Brookings Institution, a public policy research organization in Washington.

"The betting has been that Hoyer is way ahead and that Pelosi would stay out of it," Mann said.

House Democrats plan to elect their leaders for the new Congress on Thursday, with the chamber's Republicans holding their leadership elections a day later.

"If it's widely assumed she's trying to alter the outcome, then it hurts her," Mann said.

"If the word inside is that she's just showing loyalty but is fully prepared to accept the decision of the Democratic caucus, then it will pass quickly."

Hoyer, currently the No. 2 House Democrat, said he had known for some time of Pelosi's choice to support Murtha. "I respect her decision as the two are very close," Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, said in a statement.

"I am grateful for the support I have from my colleagues, and have the majority of the caucus supporting me," said Hoyer, 67. "I look forward to working with Speaker Pelosi as majority leader."

Rep. Representative Dennis Cardoza, a California Democrat who supports Hoyer, said Pelosi's endorsement will be seen as evidence of her loyalty to Murtha, not an effort to interject her views into the race. Members knew that Pelosi would probably personally support Murtha when they gave commitments to Hoyer in recent months, he said.

"I don't think it's going to have an impact on people's decisions," Cardoza said in an interview. "She's being loyal, and members have personal relationships."