U.S. Senate leaders unchanged after election, Kevin McCarthy to succeed Paul Ryan

Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday challenged the Democrats who are fighting to stop her from becoming House Speaker to put forward an alternative.

Asked about the opposition, Pelosi noted the lack of a challenger. The California Democrat said, "Come on in. The water's warm."

The Democrats seeking to stop Pelosi's rise claim they have the votes to block her. Rep. Kurt Schrader of Oregon has said Pelosi "doesn't have the votes" to become Speaker again, in part because of the newly elected members who have promised to oppose her.

Pelosi is seeking her second term as House Speaker, having made history as the first woman to hold the post, from 2007 to 2011.

House Democrats will not hold their leadership elections until after Thanksgiving. The full House will elect a new Speaker in January, after the new Democratic majority is sworn into office.

The Democrats have so far amassed a net gain of 33 seats, according to Ballotpedia, run by the Lucy Burns Institute. There are still 10 races to be officially determined.

Kevin McCarthy was elected to take over the Republican caucus next year as House minority leader on Wednesday.

The California Republican fended off a challenge from Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. McCarthy is considered more moderate than Jordan, who is a leader of the far-right House freedom caucus.

Jordan and McCarthy encountered questions and finger-pointing during a private meeting with Republican lawmakers Tuesday night as the party sorted through the midterm defeat that put House Democrats in the majority for the next two years.

Retiring House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin endorsed McCarthy, his deputy, to become House Republicanleader.

Ryan announced in April he would not run for re-election.

Jordan said the Republicans lost their majority in the midterm election because they didn't deliver on promises to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, fund President Donald Trump's wall and replace the Obama health-care law.

Jordan, a founder of the conservative freedom caucus, toldFox & Friends on Wednesday that if he is elected to the leadership job, he will work on "doing what we told the American people we were gonna do."

McCarthy told reporters before the party elections that "we've got a plan" to counter Democrats in the next two years.

No change atop the Senate

Senators on Wednesday chose majority leader Mitch McConnell for another term leading Republicans and Chuck Schumer for Democrats in closed-door party elections Wednesday lacking the high drama underway on the House side in the midterm election fallout.

Both senators were chosen by acclamation, according to those familiar with the private caucus meetings. McConnell, the Kentucky Republican who expanded party ranks in last week's midterm, faced no contest for the job. Democrats returned Schumer's entire leadership team, despite the loss of several incumbents in last week's election.

During a brief photo op in McConnell's Capitol office ahead of voting, McConnell presented his newly elected senators who will take their seats in January.

Among them was Florida's Rick Scott, the Republican governor whose race against incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson remains undecided. Should Scott ultimately prevail, the Republicans will have gained two seats to pad their margin from a current 51-49 advantage.

The rest of the Republican lineup below McConnell is expected to shuffle slightly. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the Republican whip, is being forced out by term limits. That allows Sen. John Thune of South Dakota to move up to the No. 2 spot. Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming and Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri are expected to take over the third- and fourth-ranking spots.

Republicans are poised to elect their first woman to leadership in almost a decade. Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer is running for vice-chair of the conference. She faces Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa.

There has been some modest internal opposition to Schumer of New York andone of the two new Democratic senators-elect, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, has said she wouldn't vote for him.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois was re-elected as minority whip, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state won a new term as assistant leader. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan was re-elected as Democratic policy committee chair.