# Nancy Pelosi, first woman to serve as US House speaker, to retire from Congress **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 6, 2025, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627 "2025-11-06T14:28:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/1 "2025-11-06T14:28:21Z")
[Nancy Pelosi, first woman to serve as US House speaker, to retire from Congress](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-serve-us-house-speaker-retire-congress-2025-11-06/) > Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to serve as the powerful Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said on Thursday that she will not run for re-election to Congress in 2026, ending a four-decade career of a progressive Democratic icon often vilified by the right. > > The 85-year-old congresswoman, first elected in 1987, made her announcement two days after voters in California on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved “Proposition 50,” a state redistricting effort aimed at flipping five House seats to Democrats in next year’s midterm elections. Any guesses on who will try to replace her? Is her district a safe blue district? ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/2 "2025-11-06T14:49:05Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Is her district a safe blue district? It’s San Francisco. About as safely blue as you can get. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/3 "2025-11-06T14:52:41Z")
I don’t love the idea of term limits, but both 85 years old and 40 years in the House seem excessive to me… Still a political force and a historic career. Definitely earned her retirement. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/4 "2025-11-06T14:53:00Z")
Pelosi is great, but this is probably for the best. She’s 85, and it’s better to leave politics on a high note than the way Biden did (or worse, Feinstein). ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/5 "2025-11-06T15:05:19Z")
Not to worry, I’m sure the Dems have a fresh young 70-year-old ready to come in off the bench. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/6 "2025-11-06T15:11:35Z")
Chuck Grassley said (probably) “Why? She’s just a spring chicken!” ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/7 "2025-11-06T15:29:15Z")
One: most of the time I thought she was doing a great job. Two: it’s about time. Thank you for a job well done, Pelosi. And thank you for recognizing that it’s time to go. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/8 "2025-11-06T15:39:25Z")
A Democratic state senator named Scott Weiner had already announced he was going to run for that seat, before she made this announcement. He looks much younger but he is actually 55 (this really surprised me when I looked it up) and he is gay. He is also very progressive. Other candidates mentioned are Pelosi’s daughter, Christine Pelosi, and a San Francisco supervisor, Connie Chan. The Chronicle also mentions Saikat Chakrabarti, a former aide to AOC. I haven’t seen any mention of a Republican candidate, I mean, there always is one, but that is suretly the poster child for a thankless job. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/9 "2025-11-06T15:46:57Z")
And Mike Johnson says that an 85 year old retiring is evidence that she’s being “forced out by the radical leftists who control the Democrat Party”. What an asshole. From [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_history_of_Nancy_Pelosi) I see that some Democrat named Shahid Buttar finished second or third in the jungle primary in 2018, 20, and 22, but didn’t run last year. Never heard of him, but sounds like he has some organization in place already. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/10 "2025-11-06T16:28:50Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > One: most of the time I thought she was doing a great job. > > Two: it’s about time. Thank you for a job well done, Pelosi. And thank you for recognizing that it’s time to go. Yes, my very same thoughts when I first read the news. This will leave her with a much better legacy than Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who fought a great fight but ultimately left us screwed in the end. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/11 "2025-11-06T16:31:27Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > And Mike Johnson says that an 85 year old retiring is evidence that she’s being “forced out by the radical leftists who control the Democrat Party”. What an asshole. Yes, what an asshole. Can they do _anything_ without a partisan sneer? Fuckers. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/12 "2025-11-06T16:43:14Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > A Democratic state senator named Scott Weiner had already announced he was going to run for that seat, before she made this announcement. He looks much younger but he is actually 55 (this really surprised me when I looked it up) and he is gay. He is also very progressive. Any relation to Anthony? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/13 "2025-11-06T16:54:47Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Any relation to Anthony? Apparently not, though that didn’t stop the ever-classy Ted Cruz from trying to conflate them. I rather liked [Scott Weiner’s clap-back](https://www.metroweekly.com/2024/03/scott-wiener-to-ted-cruz-everyone-hated-you-in-law-school/). ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/14 "2025-11-06T17:03:46Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Apparently not, though that didn’t stop the ever-classy Ted Cruz from trying to conflate them. I rather liked [Scott Weiner’s clap-back](https://www.metroweekly.com/2024/03/scott-wiener-to-ted-cruz-everyone-hated-you-in-law-school/) That’s pretty funny! And, nice to see that sometimes politicians can share a last name without being part of some kind of weird political dynasty. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/15 "2025-11-06T17:05:10Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Is her district a safe blue district? so blue it’s ultraviolet ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/16 "2025-11-06T17:26:24Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Pelosi is great, but this is probably for the best. She’s 85, and it’s better to leave politics on a high note than the way Biden did (or worse, Feinstein). Or worse yet, the current President. Am I right? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/17 "2025-11-06T17:36:43Z")
Well, we’re still waitin’ for the high note, but I get your point. In fact, the day he leaves office for whatever reason will be the day he performs the greatest service of his life for his country (what’s left of it). ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/18 "2025-11-06T17:41:06Z")
Should have left 15-20 years ago. I think a term limit of 24 years in Congress (Senate/House) is reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/19 "2025-11-06T17:46:58Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > From [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_history_of_Nancy_Pelosi) I see that some Democrat named Shahid Buttar finished second or third in the jungle primary in 2018, 20, and 22, but didn’t run last year. Never heard of him, but sounds like he has some organization in place already. I used to know him when he lived in DC. I collaborated with him in the DC Guerrilla Poetry Insurgency, where they were spitting rhymes to drumbeats at the Dupont Circle fountain. After he moved to SF, another woman from the Insurgency told me that he had sexually harassed her. She made her allegations public. I cut off contact with him. No more respect. Don’t vote for him if he runs again. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627/20 "2025-11-06T17:49:57Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Or worse yet, the current President. Am I right? If being too old for the job was the worst of Trump’s flaws, it would be a _massive_ improvement. I’m comparing her to otherwise good politicians whose age hindered, not to terrible politicians whose age only hinders them from being more terrible. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627.md?page=2)