Nancy Pelosi announces she will not seek reelection to Congress after nearly 40 years in Washington

Nancy Pelosi, the first and only female speaker of the US House of Representatives and one of the most powerful figures in Democratic politics for decades, has announced she will not seek reelection.

“I have truly loved serving as your voice in Congress, and I have always honored the song of St. Francis, ‘Lord make an instrument of thy peace,’ the anthem of our city. That is why I want you, my fellow San Franciscans, to be the first to know. I will not be seeking reelection to Congress,” Pelosi, 85, said Thursday in a sweeping video that stood as a love letter to the city she has represented for nearly 40 years in Washington.

“With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative. As we go forward, my message to the city I love is this: San Francisco, know your power. We have made history. We have made progress. We have always led the way, and now we must continue to do so by remaining full participants in our Democracy and fighting for the American ideals we hold dear.”

The announcement ends heightened speculation in recent days that the longtime Democrat would soon announce her intention to draw her congressional career to a close after 38 years. She was widely expected to leave Congress after this term, her first in decades as a rank-and-file member.

Reflecting on her many roles on Capitol Hill, Pelosi said Thursday: “I say to my colleagues in the House all of 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 was first elected to Congress in 1987, and made history as the House’s first-ever female speaker in 2007. She remains the only woman to have wielded the gavel, which she earned after the 2006 and 2018 elections. Even now, decades after her ascent to the top of the House Democratic caucus, she remains one of the most influential voices in the party.

The congresswoman made public her decision to retire two days after one of her biggest political victories in recent years: a resounding win for a ballot measure in California that redraws the state’s congressional map to favor Democrats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. She personally raised tens of millions of dollars for the push, according to a person familiar with her fundraising efforts.