The election of Rep. Steny Hoyer, a Democrat of Maryland, as House majority leader staves off, at least for the moment, the threat of a Democratic Congress cutting funding for the war in Iraq.

Mr. Hoyer, who has signed three leadership letters to President Bush calling for a phased withdrawal of troops from Iraq, beat out Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, who wants to set a date for an American exit and send the troops elsewhere in the Middle East.

Last night, both the Democrats and the founder of the Democratic Leadership Council, Al From, said the Appropriations Committee would not cut funding for American forces, as the party did in 1974 to help end the Vietnam War.

“Whatever the course of the nation pertaining to Iraq, with Jack in charge of that subcommittee, we will have a leader in Congress looking out for the personnel,” Rep. Joseph Crowley, who represents parts of Queens and the Bronx, said.

Mr. Murtha, who is well-connected within military circles, will be chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees the budget for the war in Iraq.

A member of the fiscally conservative, pro-military “Blue Dog” Democrat coalition who voted for Mr. Hoyer, Rep. James Cooper of Tennessee, said: “There is no way funding would get cut. I don’t know of any push for that. No one is in favor of that.”

The rise of Mr. Hoyer to the no. 2 post was also a defeat for the next speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, who endorsed Mr. Murtha and lobbied Democrats hard to support him.

Prior to the closed-door vote, Democrats said she told the assembled caucus that Iraq was the issue that put the party back in control of Congress.

She added that Mr. Murtha, her one-time campaign manager and a former Marine who became the voice of the anti-war movement during the election, brought the Iraq issue to the fore and should be rewarded with the majority leader post, even though Mr. Hoyer had paid his dues as minority whip.

Some Democrats balked at the assumption that Mr. Murtha was the sole reason for their party’s victory.

Mr. Crowley said, “There is no one person who is responsible for our victory, nor one particular issue.”

The majority of Democrats appeared to agree, breaking ranks with the leader they had just elected unanimously and voting for Mr. Hoyer. Supporters of Mr. Murtha’s push to redeploy American troops outside Iraq and conservative Democrats alike chose Mr. Hoyer. He won by a tally of 149–86.

“You have a guy who has been toiling in the vineyard, going to hundreds of congressional districts,” Rep. Steve Israel of Long Island said.”He brought us the majority. Now is not the time to say,‘You are fired.'”

When asked last night for his reaction to Mrs. Pelosi’s decision to back Mr. Murtha as House majority leader, Mr. From said, “Let’s just say she used her mulligan on the first hole. I don’t know why she did it.”

Democrats said Mr. Hoyer had a tighter grasp of a broader range of issues that they felt were important to cranking out legislation that could help them have a productive term as the majority party in the House. Mr. Hoyer also helped balance out the leadership ticket with Mrs. Pelosi and the party’s stance on the war, they said. Some Democrats said Mr. Hoyer’s election showed that the party was more willing to consider balanced approaches to ending the war. Still, Mr. Cooper said, “we are a long ways from a consensus.”

Other Democrats said what Mr. Hoyer offered to various members outweighed any allegiances to Mr. Murtha because of his role in speaking out on Iraq.

Rep. Anthony Weiner, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens and voted for Mr. Murtha, called the loss “a good old fashioned thumpin'” and said Mr. Hoyer had been campaigning for the majority leader post for months.

“In the end, it turned out much more basic things were important to members: relationships and what they got from Mr. Hoyer,” Mr. Weiner said.

Mr. Hoyer has been major Democratic fund-raiser and has stumped for candidates nationwide over the past two decades. And since 2002, as minority whip, he has helped coordinate the party’s votes on major issues.

In the end, a number of Democrats may have simply been looking toward the new year and the 110th Congress. A political consultant, George Arzt, said he thought the vote was not about the war, but who had the best chance of winning.