Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- House Democrats elected Steny Hoyer to the No. 2 post in their caucus for the next session of Congress, handing a defeat to their own leader, Nancy Pelosi, who campaigned against him.

Hoyer won by a vote of 149-86 over Representative John Murtha of Pennsylvania, who is best known for calling last year for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Hoyer, of Maryland, is currently Democratic whip, the second-highest leadership job.

Pelosi won a separate victory when Democratic lawmakers backed her uncontested bid for House speaker. The choice must be ratified by the full House in January, a formality because Democrats will hold a majority of the seats. She would become the first woman to hold the speakership.

The race for majority leader demonstrates a split within the party as Democrats prepare for a new session of Congress in which they will have their first House majority in a dozen years. Democrats picked up at least 28 House seats in the Nov. 7 election.

Pelosi said Hoyer won a ``stunning victory'' and she ``respects'' the decision of the caucus.

``We've had our debates, we've had our disagreements. And now, that is over,'' she said. ``We are a unified caucus as we go forward.''

Effective Team

Hoyer said that he and Pelosi would continue to make an effective team.

``I intend to do everything in my power, as I said in the caucus, to make Nancy Pelosi the most successful speaker in the history of the House of Representatives,'' Hoyer said.

Hoyer, 67, campaigned for majority leader by promoting his leadership experience and work in support of Democratic candidates leading up to the election, including traveling to 33 states and attending 315 events in 100 days on the road.

Pelosi, 66, and Hoyer were rivals in a 2001 race for Democratic whip that Pelosi won with Murtha as her campaign manager. When she moved up to minority leader a year later on the retirement of Representative Dick Gephardt, Hoyer won the No. 2 job.

The political rivalry ``will have no negative effect'' on Pelosi, said Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank. ``She has had this irritation toward Steny, but over the last couple of years, it hasn't stopped us from having the most unified Democratic caucus in anyone's memory.''

100 Hours

The Democrats said they would devote the first 100 legislative hours of the next Congress to priorities including passing legislation to limit the influence of lobbyists, increase the minimum wage, revamp energy policies and restore expired tax deductions for college students.

Pelosi also said she was committed to ending the Iraq war.

``It is a grotesque mistake'' that is costing lives, limbs, and more than a trillion dollars, she said.

In a letter endorsing Murtha's campaign, Pelosi said his call for troop withdrawal last year ``changed the national debate'' and made Iraq a central issue in the elections.

Murtha, 74, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, is the top- ranking Democrat on the House appropriations subcommittee that funds defense programs.

Pelosi urged support for Murtha in phone calls and in conversations with Democrats on the House floor, said Representative Al Wynn of Maryland.

Pelosi made the nominating speech for Murtha before the vote today, according to Andrew Koneschusky, a spokesman for Murtha.

Ethics

His campaign for majority leader may have been hurt by government watchdog groups that said he had ethical problems that made him unfit for the majority leader's post.

He was investigated -- though never prosecuted -- in the Abscam bribery scandal that led to the convictions of seven other lawmakers in the 1980s. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Tom Mann, a congressional scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said Pelosi was ``better off in the long run'' with Hoyer as majority leader because he has fewer ethical troubles than Murtha and is perceived as more moderate politically.

The Democratic caucus also voted to elevate Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, now the chairman of the House Democratic caucus and the highest-ranking black in Congress, to the No. 3 majority whip job.

Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, who led the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, was elected caucus chairman and John Larson of Connecticut was chosen to be vice chairman. All three were unopposed.

To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 16, 2006 14:41 EST