Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, the most powerful woman in U.S. political history, announced Thursday that she will not seek reelection after representing San Francisco for nearly four decades in Congress.
“With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative,” Pelosi said in an emotional farewell video she posted to her social media account. (opens in new tab)
The 85-year-old California Democrat addressed her constituents directly, reflecting on her legacy representing the “greatest city on Earth with the most extraordinary people on Earth and a place that I will always believe is heaven on Earth.”
“I will not be seeking re-election to Congress,” Pelosi said. “I have truly loved serving as your voice in Congress.”
The decision, announced two days after California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 50 — a redistricting measure Pelosi championed — touches off a succession battle in her heavily Democratic district and leaves open questions about who will inherit her influential role within the Capitol.
State Sen. Scott Wiener, a moderate Democrat who spent two years waiting for Pelosi’s retirement to run for the seat, launched his campaign last month. Saikat Chakrabarti — a progressive centimillionaire who worked in tech before working as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign manager and chief of staff — is another notable candidate in the race. Pelosi’s departure is likely to open the flood gates for more entries.
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“In her years of public service, she made every day count and moved mountains for San Francisco and our nation,” Wiener said in a statement. “Her example is a guiding light to me and millions of others as we face the extreme challenges ahead.”
Pelosi will be a tough act to follow. A Democratic Party icon whose prolific fundraising chops have routinely won Democrats elections across the country, she led her caucus from 2002 to 2022. She served two stints as speaker, from 2007 to 2011 and 2019 to 2023, during which her strategic discipline earned her praise from allies — and grudging respect from opponents both within the Democratic Party (opens in new tab) and across the political aisle.
Pelosi’s ability to coalesce Democratic factions made her an indispensable leader during the Obama and Biden administrations. She shepherded landmark legislation like the Affordable Care Act, the Dodd-Frank financial reforms and pandemic relief packages.
She championed the resistance to President Donald Trump’s policy agenda during his first term in office, when she led the House through two impeachment votes and defended democratic institutions in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.
“Nancy Pelosi has inspired generations. Her courage and conviction to San Francisco, California, and our nation has set the standard for what public service should be. Her impact on this nation is unmatched,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement posted to social media (opens in new tab). “Thank you, Madam Speaker. Wishing you the best in this new chapter — you’ve more than earned it.”
The daughter of five-term congressman and Baltimore mayor Thomas D’Alesandro Jr., Pelosi got her start as a fundraiser and Democratic Party organizer after moving to San Francisco with her husband in the late 1960s. She quickly made connections and rose up the ranks to serve as California’s Democratic Party chair from 1981 to 1983.
After Rep. Sala Burton died in 1987, Pelosi won a special election for her seat and carved out a role in Washington as a leader on foreign policy, LGBTQ+ rights, and the AIDS crisis. Her long career includes countless iconic moments — from unfurling a banner criticizing China in Tiananmen Square in 1991 to shredding Trump’s 2020 State of the Union speech and donning a pair of shades in 2018 while strutting out of a combative Oval Office meeting with the president.
Mayor Daniel Lurie, who was once an intern for Pelosi, called her the “greatest Speaker our nation has ever seen,” citing her work on healthcare and transforming the Presidio into a park as among her accomplishments.
“While her work brought her to the highest levels of leadership, Speaker Emerita Pelosi never forgot who she served: San Franciscans,” Lurie’s statement said. “Her service has strengthened San Francisco, inspired generations of Americans, and motivated all of us to continue working for the city we love.”
But recent years have clearly taken a toll on Pelosi. Though she has remained influential in behind-the-scenes political fights such as Prop. 50, Pelosi has otherwise receded from the public spotlight since stepping down from Democratic leadership in November 2022, when Republicans retook control of the House.
The month before, a man consumed by right-wing conspiracy theories against Pelosi broke into their Pacific Heights home in an effort to kidnap the congresswoman and attacked her husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer. She has often referenced her family’s trauma related to that event, and how her husband still hasn’t fully recovered from the attack.
Pelosi’s departure comes ahead of a crucial midterm election for Democrats.
Republicans currently control both chambers of Congress, and have effectively ceded their power of the purse while subordinating themselves to Trump on major policy decisions. They passed sweeping tax cuts this summer through Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” while scaling back healthcare benefits and other social services.
During a Monday Prop. 50 rally in San Francisco, Pelosi warned voters that the measure was their best chance to push back against Trump, whom she described in a CNN interview as a “vile creature (opens in new tab), the worst thing on the face of the earth.”
Though her final years in Congress have been defined by her battles with Trump, she reflected on her connection to San Francisco voters in her farewell message.
In the video, Pelosi traced her political journey from her first campaign slogan — “a voice that will be heard” — to her historic ascent as the first female speaker.
“It was you who made those words came true,” she said. “It was the faith that you had placed in me, and the latitude that you have given me that enabled me to shatter the marble ceiling and be the first woman speaker of the House, whose voice would certainly be heard.”
She highlighted her major legislative accomplishments and emphasized investments in her district, from transportation infrastructure improvements to affordable housing initiatives and climate action.
“I say to my colleagues in the House all the time, no matter what title they had bestowed upon me — speaker, leader, whip — there has been no greater honor for me than to stand on the house floor and say, ‘I speak for the people of San Francisco,’” Pelosi said.