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Published November 18, 2014

Democrats re-elected Rep. Nancy Pelosi to another two-year term as House minority leader on Tuesday, two weeks after elections in which the party lost at least a dozen seats in the chamber.

In a closed-door meeting of House Democrats, Pelosi was re-elected by voice vote in a race in which she faced no challenger. The California Democrat has been party leader in the chamber since 2003, including four years in which she was the first female House speaker.

No. 2 House Democrat Steny Hoyer of Maryland and the party's other top leaders also were re-elected without a challenge.

"What we want are initiatives that help the American people, that reduce the anxiety because it reduces the income disparity," Pelosi told reporters after her election.

But touching on the need that Democrats see to improve their message to voters, she said that while it's important to address people's needs, "It's another thing, also, to make sure the public understands what is going on."

Pelosi, 74, was victorious despite some grumbling that the leadership needs fresh blood and that the party did an inadequate job of selling its policies to voters. Pelosi told her colleagues that Democrats need to do a better job of focusing on helping the middle-class, Democrats said.

"We need a full-blown discussion of who we are, where we're going, what are our priorities. If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority," said Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J. "It's all of our faults, not just the leadership."

Many Democrats also blamed their recent losses on an unfriendly political climate beyond their control, including President Barack Obama's unpopularity.

"Nancy did as good a job as she could do in this situation. It's very hard in an off-year, when people don't come out to vote," said Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., who also cited big campaign spending by Republican allies.

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House Democrats re-elect Pelosi as minority leader