WASHINGTON – House Democrats gambled Wednesday they can return to power under the same leaders who just oversaw a 61-seat election loss, choosing Nancy Pelosi to remain their party chief when they become the minority in January.

Moderate Democrats pleaded for a change to show voters they understand the anger and unrest registered two weeks earlier on Election Day. And Pelosi didn’t retain her leadership without a fight, defeating Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina 150-43 in secret balloting in a lengthy closed-door gathering in the Capitol.

In a contrast befitting the Nov. 2 election results, House Republicans kept Rep. John Boehner of Ohio as their leader without opposition, and he will become speaker in the new Congress. Eric Cantor of Virginia will retain the second-ranking party position, which will be majority leader, and Kevin McCarthy of California will be the party whip.

Boehner, 61, told his colleagues the new majority will be “humbler, wiser and more focused than its predecessors on the priorities of the people.”

Pelosi, the nation’s first female House speaker, will become minority leader when the 112th Congress convenes.

“She is the face that defeated us in this last election,” declared Florida Rep. Allen Boyd, who was among those who lost re-election fights. However, Pelosi, who presided over big Democratic gains in the 2006 and 2008 elections, remains popular among the liberals who dominate her caucus. Dissident moderates could not find enough votes to force her aside.

In fact, the Democrats kept their entire leadership team intact despite election losses that President Obama called “a shellacking.” They elected Steny Hoyer of Maryland to keep the No. 2 post and Jim Clyburn of South Carolina to hold the third-ranking job.