Representative Nancy Pelosi is making room for a new generation of Democrats.
The former House speaker announced Thursday that she will step down at the end of her current term. She will leave when her term ends in 2027, after a remarkable 39 years in office.
Thank you, San Francisco. pic.twitter.com/OP8ubeFzR6
— Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) November 6, 2025
The San Francisco lawmaker was first elected to Congress in 1987, representing the city during the AIDS crisis, the legalization of same-sex marriage and the rise of Silicon Valley. In 2007, she became one of the most powerful women in US history when she was elected the first—and to this day only—female Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Even as her importance within the party waned in her final years in office, Pelosi maintained unprecedented influence: She played a critical role in ousting President Joe Biden from the ticket after he tangled during a live debate with Donald Trump in July 2024, clearing the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to secure the party nomination.
But at 85, Pelosi has become a symbol of an aging Congress. For years, she resisted calls to remove herself from office to make way for younger party members in California's 11th Congressional District. Calls for senior lawmakers to resign have grown louder over the past two years after lawmakers Gerry Connolly and Dianne Feinstein (a close friend of Pelosi) died in office, leaving Democrats short of critical votes.
There are already two young Democrats vying for her seat. Representative Sarah Jacobs, who currently represents California's District 51 (the region north of San Diego), is a Pelosi protégé. Jacobs comes from a family of billionaires and has decades of experience working under Democratic titans familiar with Pelosi and her policies, such as Hillary Clinton.
Opposition: Saikat Chakrabarti, co-author of the Green New Deal. The 39-year-old multimillionaire also has experience in Washington, although from a very different part of the Liberal Party. He was Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's first chief of staff and also worked on Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign.
Pelosi's departure will also hand the mantle of Democratic Party leadership to the class of Capitol Hill politicians she mentored for years, led by Representative Hakeem Jeffries.
This story has been updated.
