Pelosi not giving up on flipping Manchin on elections bill: ‘I think he left the door open’

Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia Democrat, appeared emphatic when he declared that he would oppose H.R. 1, the sweeping elections overhaul that passed the House with no GOP votes, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday she sees some wiggle room.

“I read the op-ed, and you read a part of it—I think he left the door open. I think it’s ajar. I’m not giving up,” Ms. Pelosi told CNN’s “State of the Union” host Dana Bash.

In his June 6 op-ed, Mr. Manchin noted that the legislation has garnered no Republican support. The House passed the measure, named the For the People Act, on March by a vote of 220-209, with one Democrat crossing party lines to oppose it.

“I believe that partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening binds of our democracy, and for that reason, I will vote against the For the People Act,” Mr. Manchin said in a break with his party.

Ms. Pelosi, however, said she discussed the issue with him, and “I do know that he has certain concerns about the legislation that we may be able to come to terms on.”

“As I said to him, ‘I read the op-ed, you left the door open,’” she said.

Ms. Pelosi added that their conversation focused primarily on the bill’s requirement that states appoint independent redistricting commissions to draw their congressional districts, instead of allowing state legislatures to do so.

“I don’t give up on Joe Manchin,” she said. “When he was governor and secretary of state in West Virginia, he initiated many of the ideas that are in the H.R. 1, S. 1, the For the People Act.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she hasn’t given up on Sen. Joe Manchin when it comes to passing a voting rights bill: “We have to make this fight for our democracy. It isn’t about Democrats or Republicans. It’s not about partisanship. Forget that. It’s about patriotism” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/0QFmWrhPjv

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) June 13, 2021