{"id":15340,"date":"2025-11-06T15:46:52","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T15:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/pelosi-is-out-expect-heavy-campaigning-in-ca-and-cues-for-senior-dems-in-dc-to-follow-suit\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T15:46:52","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T15:46:52","slug":"pelosi-is-out-expect-heavy-campaigning-in-ca-and-cues-for-senior-dems-in-dc-to-follow-suit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/pelosi-is-out-expect-heavy-campaigning-in-ca-and-cues-for-senior-dems-in-dc-to-follow-suit\/","title":{"rendered":"Pelosi is out. Expect heavy campaigning in CA \u2014 and cues for senior Dems in DC to follow suit."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 Nancy Pelosi, the first female speaker of the House and one of the most powerful women in modern American politics, will retire from Congress next year.<\/p>\n

The San Francisco Democrat, who announced her decision Thursday, had come under increasing pressure to step aside amid her party\u2019s widening generational divide. Now 85, she defied political observers in 2023 when she ran for a 20th congressional term despite Democrats losing the House and her speakership the year before. But next year, she faced a tougher-than-expected group of primary challengers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will not be seeking reelection to Congress. With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative,\u201d Pelosi said in a lengthy and emotional video posted on social media<\/a> and addressed to San Franciscans.<\/p>\n

One of the most formidable political tacticians of her generation, Pelosi had deflected speculation for months about her plans<\/a>. Her announcement came two days after California voters overwhelmingly approved a measure to redraw the state\u2019s congressional map to favor Democrats in next year\u2019s midterm elections.<\/p>\n

The question of Pelosi\u2019s retirement timeline has for years been the subject of feverish speculation in San Francisco, a deep-blue and politics-obsessed city that has produced a stream of national Democratic leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris. But Pelosi had hinted that she would make a major announcement after Tuesday\u2019s election.<\/p>\n

Now, the departure of one of the nation\u2019s most recognizable Democrats, who was first elected to Congress in a 1987 special election, marks the end of an era. It also sets off a cascade of campaign maneuvering here as Democrats seize on the once-in-a-generation opportunity of an open House seat in this center of Democratic politics. And in Washington, Pelosi\u2019s coming departure will prompt questions about the political futures of her senior-ranking congressional allies.<\/p>\n

Pelosi already faced two serious Democratic challengers: Saikat Chakrabarti, a wealthy former tech executive and progressive organizer, and Scott Wiener, a prominent state lawmaker who has been angling to succeed Pelosi for years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another potential contender for the seat is San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan, a progressive force inside City Hall who, much like Pelosi, is closely aligned with the city\u2019s powerful labor movement. Pelosi has recently heaped attention on Chan, who\u2019s been featured alongside the former speaker at several recent campaign events.<\/p>\n

Pelosi\u2019s departure will deprive Republicans of a chief antagonist they have used as a visceral foil since long before the Trump era \u2014 part of a decades-long effort by the GOP to cast Pelosi as a caricature of coastal elite liberalism.<\/p>\n

Pelosi, while fading from center stage after stepping aside from her leadership post<\/a>, continued to wield clout in party politics. She campaigned across the state this fall in support of Democrats\u2019 redistricting measure and was central to the effort to resist President Donald Trump\u2019s cuts to Medicaid and federal safety-net programs. Last year, Pelosi moved behind the scenes to help convince former President Joe Biden not to run for another term. And she\u2019s continued to be a sounding board for Hill Democrats, including her successor, Hakeem Jeffries.<\/p>\n

Some Pelosi allies said in recent days that they hoped she would run again, predicting she could help boost Democrats in the midterms.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s back in her five-inch heels. This is not someone who gets lost in the hallways,\u201d said Oakland Rep. Lateefah Simon, a first-term member who counts Pelosi as a mentor and described her as a force at the Capitol even after leaving leadership and recovering from an injury last year. \u201cShe has been one of the most consequential legislators in American history. That loss is going to be deeply felt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelosi has often said she meant to retire years ago but stayed on Capitol Hill to defend the Affordable Care Act \u2014 one of her crowning achievements as speaker \u2014 amid threats from Republicans. Then, she found herself embroiled in her party\u2019s yearslong power struggle with Trump, who she, like many Democrats, cast as a threat to democracy.<\/p>\n

Her farewell video, posted on social media, recalls highlights of Pelosi\u2019s career, including leading efforts to rebuild in San Francisco after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, responding to the HIV\/AIDS epidemic, helping to create the city\u2019s Presidio national park site and her trailblazing status as the first female speaker.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have truly loved serving as your voice in Congress, and I\u2019ve always honored the song of Saint Francis, \u2018Lord make me an instrument of thy peace,\u2019 the anthem of our city,\u201d Pelosi said. \u201cThat is why I want you, my fellow San Franciscans, to be the first to know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelosi also faced personal struggles in recent years that fueled speculation about her political future. Just before the 2022 midterms, David DePape broke into the Pelosis\u2019 San Francisco mansion and attacked Paul Pelosi with a hammer. He was sentenced to life in prison on a slew of state and federal charges. And last year, she underwent hip replacement surgery<\/a> after suffering an injury while traveling.<\/p>\n

Pelosi, in a 2022 documentary by her daughter, filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, reflected on the accomplishments and travails of her speakership \u2014 offering a sobering yet unapologetic take.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing speaker makes you a target \u2014 a target of misinformation, a target of mockery and sometimes a target of violence,\u201d Pelosi said, before quoting from a prayer she once saw in Africa<\/a>: \u201cWhen one day I meet my maker \u2026 he will say to me: \u2018Show me your wounds.\u2019 \u2026 I\u2019m proud of my wounds.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 Nancy Pelosi, the first female speaker of the House and one of the most powerful women in modern American politics, will retire from Congress next year. The San Francisco Democrat, who announced her decision Thursday, had come under increasing pressure to step aside amid her party\u2019s widening generational divide. Now 85, she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15340\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}