Speaker Nancy Pelosi To Run For Reelection To Congress

Topline

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Tuesday she plans to run for reelection—but she didn’t indicate whether she would vie for another term as speaker after previously promising to relinquish the leadership post. 

Key Facts

Big Number

18. That’s how many terms Pelosi has served in Congress. She was first elected in 1987 and has served four terms as speaker of the House, becoming the first and only woman to hold the post in 2007.

Key Background

Pelosi represents the 12th Congressional District of California. In a June 2021 interview with Forbes when Pelosi was named as one of 50 Women Over 50, Pelosi hinted at her desire to run for reelection. When Mika Brezinski asked Pelosi what word comes to mind with “retirement,” the Speaker responded “what’s that?” Last year, Forbes also named Pelosi as the 15th World’s Most Powerful Woman. After Democrats won control of the House in 2018, to lock up enough votes in the Democratic caucus for another term as speaker, she agreed to support term limits for three key leadership positions: House speaker, majority leader and whip. The term limit proposal — which would have allowed three terms by a simple majority vote of the caucus and a fourth with two-thirds support — was never voted on by the Democrats, but at the time, Pelosi said she intended “to abide by it whether it passes or not.” In 2020, Pelosi doubled down on her comments, saying, “I don’t want to undermine any leverage I may have, but I made the statement.”

Further Viewing

Further Reading

50 Over 50 (Forbes) 

The World’s Most Powerful Women (Forbes)