Speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Friday that she will seek reelection in 2024, aiming to prolong her historic tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives after more than 36 years.
Pelosi, 83, relinquished her leadership post earlier this year, after becoming the first female House speaker in 2007.
A statement posted to social media referenced her home city of San Francisco’s continued economic recovery efforts following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: “Now more than ever our City needs us to advance San Francisco values and further our recovery. Our country needs America to show the world that our flag is still there, with liberty and justice for ALL.”
She added: “That is why I am running for reelection — and respectfully ask for your vote.”
In an interview with Politico last month, Pelosi hinted at a reelection bid by pointing to the number of female veteran California Democrats who are retiring or have already retired from Congress: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, former Sen. Barbara Boxer and former Rep. Jackie Speier.
“I haven’t been thinking much about it — yet,” she said in the interview, which was published this week.
Boxer sympathized with her colleague, telling Politico: “It’s really hard to leave a job you love and are great at.”
She added, “If I’m Nancy, it’s not easy.”
Pelosi’s announcement, however, comes as voters have signaled concern about the advancing age of the nation’s leadership in Washington.
Last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) experienced a second freezing episode after a reporter asked him about his own reelection plans for 2026. A similar incident had occurred in front of news cameras in late July.
However, McConnell, 81, indicated this week that he is not planning on stepping down before his term is up.
Neither is 90-year-old Feinstein, despite health problems that have raised eyebrows, although her office did announce earlier this year that she will not seek reelection in 2024.
Polling has shown that President Joe Biden’s age, 80, is also an issue of concern for some voters as he gears up to run for a second presidential term next year. At 77, Biden’s potential Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, is not a young man, either.
Aside from offering jokes, Biden has told voters to look to his record in office as proof of his fitness, saying, “Watch me.”