Nancy Pelosi Ends Her 38-Year Journey In US Congress, Announces She Won't Seek Re-Election

Last Updated:November 06, 2025, 20:56 IST

Nancy Pelosi, US's first and only female House Speaker, announced she will not seek reelection after 38 years, marking a historic end to her San Francisco congressional career.

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CNN/X)

After 38 years, US’s first and only female speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi on Thursday announced she will not seek reelection.

“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.’ 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 said in a video statement.

She further said: “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."

This announcement has ended the rising speculation that the longtime Democrat would soon announce her intention to withdraw her congressional career after 38 years.

Pelosi was first elected to Congress in 1987 and became the House’s first-ever female speaker in 2007. Till now, she is the only woman to have yielded the gavel, which she earned after the 2006 and 2018 elections.

“It is an historic moment for the Congress, and an historic moment for the women of this country," Pelosi said in her first speech as speaker in 2007. “It is a moment for which we have waited over 200 years."

According to CNN, 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.

News world Nancy Pelosi Ends Her 38-Year Journey In US Congress, Announces She Won't Seek Re-Election

Read More