Speaker Nancy Pelosi Announces She’ll Seek Re-Election

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said on Tuesday she will run for a 19th term in office, without saying whether she would seek to remain in her Democratic leadership role.

The 81-year-old California lawmaker was the first woman to serve as speaker and had been expected to step down, particularly as her party looks to hold onto its majority in the November 8th midterm elections.

It was not immediately clear if she would honor an agreement she made to secure an unprecedented second term as speaker after the 2018 election to serve only two additional terms in the role and pave the way for a new generation to ascend to House Democratic leadership. Reuters reports that Speaker Pelosi’s office declined to answer questions as to whether she would seek the speaker’s gavel again. “The Speaker is not on a shift, she’s on a mission,” a senior aide said.

Speaker Pelosi is running for re-election, which means she is going to continue ruining Kevin McCarthy’s life.

— Avenger Resister (@AvengerResister) January 26, 2022

The last two years of the Trump administration may have convinced Speaker Pelosi to seek another term. It would not be unprecedented for a speaker to run again for re-election and then announce later a decision not to seek the top leadership post again. Reuters reports that 2006, then-House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican, easily won re-election to his House seat, even though Democrats won control of the House and Senate in those elections. Immediately after Election Day, Hastert said he would not seek a leadership position in the Congress convening in January 2007.

Thank you, @SpeakerPelosi, for your leadership, driving home the point that those who defend democracy overseas shouldn't have to continue to fight for it at home. We must protect the vote. pic.twitter.com/06m0SuFmjR

— VoteVets (@votevets) January 26, 2022

“While we have made progress much more needs to be done to improve people’s lives. This election is crucial: nothing less is at stake than our Democracy,” Pelosi said in a video posted on Twitter.

Make no mistake, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has done a hell of a job in her post and I’d much rather her stay at the helm running the House than seditionist spineless coward Kevin McCarthy.

— Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) January 26, 2022

Though Democrats are preparing for a likely difficult election season this fall, Pelosi’s seat is considered to be a safe one for the party to hold on to.