Pictured are U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper

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By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio- United States House of Representatives member Nancy Pelosi, a San Francisco Democrat elected Speaker of the House this year after the Democrats reclaimed control of the lower chamber of congress via the midterm elections in November, is the keynote speaker for the Ohio Democratic Party 's annual Legacy Dinner on Friday, May 17 in Columbus, party officials announced Tuesday.

Her visit to Ohio comes as the 2020 election nears with a crowded field of presidential hopefufs seking the Democratic nomination, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Corey Booker and Elizabeth Warren, and former Congressman Beto O'Rourke of Texas, who this week visited Cleveland for a campaign rally, Ohio a pivotal state for presidential elections.

“Democratic women are leading the way forward, at the Ohio Statehouse and in the halls of congress, and we could think of no one better to help us celebrate our annual Legacy Dinner than Speaker Nancy Pelosi,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper. “As the Democratic candidates gear up for 2020, Pelosi is showing us all what it means to stand up to this president and make him respect the People’s House, [and} we can’t wait to hear from our Madam Speaker.”

Pelosi ran uncontested for Speaker.

Thirty-two of hwe Democratic congressional peers voted against her nomination last year, hardly enough to oust the relatively popular Pelosi, who has led the Democrats in the House since 2003.

A cadre of congressional Democrats had campaigned for the midterm elections with the promise of working to oust Pelosi, 78, as the chief Democratic leader of the House.

It did not pan out.

The first woman to lead a majority party in congress, Pelosi was House Minority Whip from 2002 to 2003, and was House Minority Leader from 2003 to 2007 before she became Speaker of the House in 2007 when the Republicans lost the House, the Republicans again gaining control of the House in 2011 and Pelosi stepping down as House Speaker and up again as House Minority Leader.

Now she is, again, Speaker, thanks to the Dems winning back the House  last year with her help and ingenuity, a wave of women winning new seats in congress, minority women in particular.

Ohio 11th Congressional District Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge, a Warrensville Heights Democrat who is one of two Blacks in congress from Ohio and whose congressional district includes most of the majority Black areas between Cleveland and Akron and several of Cleveland's eastern suburbs, backed Pelosi as did Congresswoman Joyce Beatty of Columbus, and Marcy Kaptur, a Toledo Democrat whose 9th congressional district extends to Cleveland.

Fudge and Beatty are the only two Blacks in congress from Ohio.

Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan, a Niles Democrat who  tried unsuccessfully two years ago to oust Pelosi as House Minority Leader with Fudge's help but lost by a 2-1 margin, voted against Pelosi's bid for Speaker this year.

Fudge toyed with opposing Pelosi for Speaker of the House but decided to rejoin Pelosi's team to fight against the right wing attack on the Democratic Party in congress, and elsewhere.