Rangel Backs Hoyer for Leader In a Break With Nancy Pelosi

The battle between Rep. John Murtha and Rep. Steny Hoyer for the no. 2 leadership spot in the House of Representatives is dividing the New York City delegation to Congress.

Although Mr. Murtha led a charge against the war in Iraq, which contributed to the Democrats' taking both the House and the Senate, many Democratic representatives in New York, including some who co-sponsored his troop redeployment resolution in 2005, are backing the Pennsylvania congressman's rival, Mr. Hoyer, to become House majority leader. The Democrats will decide the matter in a closed-door vote Thursday.

Some of Mr. Hoyer's backers in New York are asking why the likely new speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, has endorsed Mr. Murtha rather than the Maryland congressman, who is the minority whip and the second-ranking Democrat.

Rep. Charles Rangel of Harlem, who called Mr. Murtha "a friend" and received support from him in 2004 in his push for the reinstitution of a military draft, said yesterday that Mr. Murtha would make a good majority leader. But Mr. Rangel is going to vote for Mr. Hoyer.

"My kind of politics is, if you do your job, you are supposed to be rewarded," Mr. Rangel, who was one of 105 co-sponsors of Mr. Murtha's resolution to redeploy American troops in the Middle East in 2005, said. "I think Steny has done his job. I cannot think of any reason why this is happening."

Mr. Hoyer said yesterday that he has the support of most Democrats in the House. The centrist Democratic Leadership Committee also has endorsed him, saying yesterday in a statement that Mr. Hoyer would best continue the Democrats' momentum from Election Day. Another New York Democrat, Rep. Anthony Weiner, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens, takes the opposite view. He said Mr. Murtha was instrumental in the Democrats' midterm victory.

"He is the most articulate and smartest spokesman in the whole caucus on the singular issue of the day, which is the war in Iraq and our national defense," Mr. Weiner, who helped organize a town hall meeting on Iraq this summer at the Park Slope United Methodist Church that featured Mr. Murtha, said. "He as much as anyone made our victory possible."

Mr. Weiner said he is confident that Mr. Murtha will become House majority leader and that he believes most of New York's delegation will end up backing him. A spokeswoman for Rep. Yvette Clarke, a Democrat of Brooklyn, Pauline Barfield, said Ms. Clarke has not made up her mind, though she appreciated Mr. Murtha's support during her campaign.

Rep. Timothy Bishop, a Democrat of the eastern portion of Long Island who was a co-sponsor of Mr. Murtha's Iraq resolution, said he is supporting Mr. Hoyer mainly because Mr. Hoyer helped keep the caucus together during the campaign.

Rep. Eliot Engel, whose district includes parts of the Bronx and Rockland and Westchester counties, said he is backing Mr. Hoyer because "you dance with the one who brung ya."

The current chief deputy whip, Rep. Joseph Crowley, who represents parts of the Bronx and Queens, is also among Mr. Hoyer's supporters. While Mr. Murtha was instrumental in helping Democrats take control of the House, Mr. Crowley said, Mr. Hoyer has been working on Democratic House campaigns year in and year out. Mr. Crowley said of Ms. Pelosi's endorsement of Mr. Murtha: "It is her saying she supports him. It is not her asking others to support him."

Other Hoyer supporters include newly elected Rep. John Hall of the Hudson Valley; Rep. Steve Israel of Long Island; Rep. Jerrold Nadler, who represents parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn; Rep. Nydia Velazquez, who represents parts of Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan; Rep. Gary Ackerman, who represents parts of Queens and Long Island; and Rep. Jose Serrano of the Bronx.

Rep. Gregory Meeks of Queens, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of Nassau County, Rep. Edolphus Towns of Brooklyn, and Rep. Nita Lowey of Rockland and Westchester counties, said they would not state publicly whom they would back.