Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) dodged the question when asked about mounting retirement rumors during a CNN interview on the eve of the 2025 elections, the Washington Examiner reported.
Political insiders have told NBC News that they do not expect Pelosi to seek another term in 2026, and that she will likely make an announcement sometime after Election Day.
“I think she’s preparing to exit the stage,” a House Democratic leadership aide told the outlet. “We will not fully appreciate the time we have spent with her.”
Retiring now would certainly let Pelosi leave on a high note. Democrats had been depressed for the past year since President Trump's triumphant comeback, but Tuesday's election results have given Democrats some confidence back.
Indeed, Tuesday night was a bad one for Republicans, as Democrats swept all the big races and Pelosi's pet project, Proposition 50, was approved overwhelmingly in California. The partisan redistricting push, which could add up to five Democratic seats in the House, has been sold as a response to the supposed power grabs of Republicans.
Pelosi, during a CNN interview Monday, did not shoot down retirement rumors, instead suggesting she would have more to say soon.
“I have said I won’t do anything until Preposition 50, so tomorrow night will be very fraught with meaning for all of us. I want to win big, I think we can win big, and I don't want to be spending time on whatever I might be doing. I want to spend my time on what we‘re doing, working together to get out the vote,” Pelosi said on CNN.
“Own the ground, you win the election by owning the ground, and you can have all the persuasion in the world, you can have the biggest numbers in the polls, but if you don‘t own the ground, you‘re only having a conversation. You're not having a victory,” Pelosi said.
The first female House Speaker, Pelosi shepherded the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, into law and guided Democrats through President Trump's first term.
She has been in Congress for almost four decades and is now in her 20th term. A ruthless disciplinarian and political tactician, she is an icon of the modern left and powerhouse fundraiser whom even Republicans have begrudging respect for.
Despite filing for re-election in November 2024, the 85-year-old has yet to announce her next bid yet.
Ambitious Democrats are already angling for her seat, including leftist state senator Scott Wiener and Saikat Chakrabarti, a former chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Ny.)
As confident as ever, Pelosi told CNN that she has "no doubt" she would win re-election if she decided to run again - and on that point we have to agree with her.
"I have no doubt that if I decided to run, I would win,” Pelosi told CNN. “That isn’t even a question.”
