Capitol Hill Buzzes With Speculation That Octogenarian Nancy Pelosi Is Poised To Announce Retirement Following Tuesday Votes

Although elections across the country are set to dominate the news for the next 48 hours, many are also keeping a close eye on Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is widely expected to announce soon whether she will retire at the end of her term. She has represented San Francisco in the House for nearly 40 years, and some notable Democrats are already lining up to run for her seat ahead of her announcement this week. Ms. Pelosi, who will be 86 by the time votes are cast in next year’s midterms, has kept a lower profile this year since President Trump’s return to the White House. She and her fellow older House Democratic leaders stepped aside in 2023 to make way for a new cohort of legislators — Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, Congresswoman Katherine Clark, and Congressman Pete Aguilar. Those concerned about the Democratic Party’s gerontocracy issue — made all the more prevalent by President Biden’s decline — have not trained their eyes as much on Ms. Pelosi. Although she broke her hip in December during a trip abroad and was using walking sticks for weeks to get around the Capitol, she is still a lively presence on the Hill. She consistently attends caucus meetings, speaks to the press, and delivers remarks on the floor.Her focus at the moment, however, could not be further from the halls of Congress. For months, she has dedicated herself to campaigning for California’s Prop 50 — the statewide ballot initiative that would allow state lawmakers to redraw congressional maps for next year’s midterms in order to combat a Republican redistricting effort in Texas. If that measure passes on Tuesday, then Democrats would likely net five seats out of the Golden State — negating the five seats the GOP is likely to gain in Texas next year. Ms. Pelosi’s spokesman, Ian Krager, confirmed to The New York Sun that the former speaker will make an announcement about her political future following Tuesday’s election, though he declined to offer specifics. “Speaker Pelosi is fully focused on her mission to win the Yes on 50 special election in California on Tuesday. She urges all Californians to join in that mission on the path to taking back the House for the Democrats,” Mr. Krager said in a statement. Some ambitious Democrats are not waiting for Ms. Pelosi’s announcement, however. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s former chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, who has never held elected office, announced earlier this year that he was seeking to challenge Ms. Pelosi in the Democratic primary. “It’s become clear to me that the Democratic Party needs new leadership,” Mr. Chakrabarti said when announcing his campaign against the former speaker. He has invested more than $700,000 of his own money into his campaign, according to the Federal Election Commission. Another more notable Democrat running in the primary is a state senator, Scott Wiener, who has represented San Francisco in the state legislature since 2016. His campaign is less about Ms. Pelosi than Mr. Chakrabarti’s, who has endorsed a complete overhaul of Democratic Party leadership. He has gone so far as to call for Mr. Jeffries and Senator Chuck Schumer to face primary challengers in their respective elections. Mr. Wiener — known most for his legislative work aimed at building more housing in California — made no mention of Ms. Pelosi or other Democrats in his campaign announcement, however. “I’m running for Congress to defend San Francisco, our values, our people, and the Constitution of the United States with everything I have,” Mr. Wiener said in a video announcing his candidacy. In an interview with the New York Times, Mr. Wiener effusively praised Ms. Pelosi, though he did not hold back against Mr. Chakrabarti. “He has so little connection to San Francisco and really never did anything in San Francisco before he started running for Congress,” Mr. Wiener said of Mr. Chakrabarti, a former software engineer who is worth more than $150 million. ““He is trying to buy the seat,” Mr. Wiener said in the interview.

Capitol Hill Buzzes With Speculation That Octogenarian Nancy Pelosi Is Poised To Announce Retirement Following Tuesday Votes

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