Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the first female speaker of the United States House of Representatives, has announced that she will not seek reelection next year and will retire after nearly four decades in office.Â
The 85-year-old announced Thursday that she would be bringing her tenure in Congress to a close, which will have spanned 39 years by the time she leaves office.Â
“I will not be seeking reelection to Congress. With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your representative,” she stated in a video to her constituents quoted by The Washington Post.
She will continue to hold her seat in Congress, representing the San Francisco area, throughout the duration of her term. Â
Pelosi’s decision comes shortly after California voters passed Proposition 50 in Tuesday’s election. The ballot initiative will allow the state to redraw California’s 52 House districts in a manner that favors Democratic politicians. The initiative was a response to mid-decade redistricting in Texas.
Pelosi was elected to the House in 1987 through a special election and became the first female speaker of the House in U.S. history in 2007, when the Democrats took control of Congress at the end of President George W. Bush’s second term.Â
She championed progressive agenda items, including the passage of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, efforts to combat climate change, and the national legalization of same-sex marriage.
While a practicing Catholic, Pelosi championed pro-choice legislation, prompting some Church officials — including her own archbishop — to say that they would deny her communion until she repented.
In November 2022, after the Republicans regained control of the House, Pelosi announced that she wouldn’t seek any Democratic leadership positions while still in Congress.
“When I first came to the floor at 6 years old, never would I have thought that someday I would go from homemaker to House speaker,” Pelosi recounted. “In fact, I never intended to run for public office.”
“I have enjoyed working with three presidents, achieving historic investments in clean energy with President George Bush, transformative healthcare reform with President Barack Obama, and forging the future from infrastructure to healthcare to climate action with President Joe Biden.”
Pelosi cited Ecclesiastes 3, which states that “for everything, there is a season.”
“With great confidence in our caucus, I will not seek reelection to Democratic leadership in the next Congress,” she said. “For me, the hour’s come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus that I so deeply respect.”
