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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 the 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 overwhelmingly approved “Proposition 50,” a state redistricting effort aimed at flipping five House seats to Democrats in next year’s midterm elections.

“I will not be seeking re-election to Congress. With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service,” Pelosi said in social media posts.

California’s embrace of “Proposition 50” was in response to a similar move by Texas to boost Republicans’ chances. It was spearheaded by California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, but was right in Pelosi’s wheelhouse.

The Associated Press

Pelosi has been at the forefront in battling for control of the House and especially taking on Republican Donald Trump, who feuded with her in his first presidential term from 2017-2021.

The two often exchanged sharp words, and Pelosi tried to topple Trump twice with House impeachments in late 2019 and early 2021. Senate Republicans acquitted him both times.

Trump showed no signs of softening his rhetoric after Pelosi’s announcement.

“I think she was a tremendous liability to the country. I thought she was an evil woman who did a poor job across the country, a lot in damages and reputation. I thought she was terrible,” he said in remarks from the White House Oval Office. A Pelosi spokesperson did not immediately respond when asked about Trump’s comment.

Congressional Republicans largely withheld comment on Pelosi’s retirement announcement but Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a longtime Trump supporter, offered praise.

“She had an incredible career for her party,” Greene told CNN. “I wish we could get things done for our party like Nancy Pelosi was able to deliver for her party,” she added.

Pelosi’s retirement follows years of younger Democrats chafing at elders hanging onto power and not doing enough to cultivate future leaders. That frustration was on display in the summer of 2024 when Joe Biden, the 81-year-old Democratic president, limped through a debate with Trump and weeks later dropped out of the race, in part due to pressure from Pelosi and other fellow Democrats.

Pelosi was asked by Reuters during a 2022 roundtable interview whether she had any career regrets, including the deepening rancour and divisions plaguing the House.

She said she wished she had won more elections to deny Republicans power and “to make sure that a creature like Donald Trump never became president of the United States.”

So deep was the animosity that it spilled into Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address, when he refused to shake her hand upon his arrival in the House chamber.

She, in turn, stood up at the conclusion of his address and with dramatic flair ripped in half a copy of the speech, later saying she did so because every page contained a “lie.”

Republicans in 2021 expressed outrage when Pelosi rejected their recommendations of two staunch Trump defenders to serve on a special committee investigating Trump’s role in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“Republicans will not be party to their sham process and will instead pursue our own investigation of the facts,” said then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

While Pelosi accepted partisan fighting as a part of the job, the growing anger in U.S. politics took a toll on her family in 2022 when a right-wing conspiracy theorist broke into her San Francisco home and struck her husband, Paul Pelosi, on the head with a hammer. He later recovered.

With Pelosi’s exit from the national stage at the end of 2026, when her 20th term expires, Democrats nationwide will lose one of their highest-profile liberals at a time of party upheaval.

But her move was not expected to scramble the party’s leadership races following the November 2026 midterm elections, when Democrats hope to recapture control of the 435-member House from Republicans.

Three years ago, Pelosi retired from Democratic leadership, which included two four-year stints as speaker, from 2007-2011 and 2019-2023.

Pelosi’s relinquishing of a job that is second in line to the presidency, after the vice president, opened the way for younger Democrats to take control after years of trying to climb the ladder to power.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York has Pelosi’s former role as House Democratic leader, while Sen. Chuck Schumer, 74, continues as the party leader in the Senate.

While there are tensions between Jeffries, 55, and more liberal Democrats, he is expected to be the choice for speaker if the party captures control of the House.

“Nancy Pelosi is an iconic, legendary, transformational figure who has done so many things over so many years to make life better for so many people,” Jeffries said at a news conference on Monday when asked about Pelosi’s 2026 intentions.

During her tenure, Pelosi gained a reputation as a defender of human rights and an early advocate of gay rights at a time when AIDS swept through the world and especially her hometown of San Francisco in the 1980s and beyond.

It was her work in helping then-President Barack Obama win enactment of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, that Pelosi sees as her greatest accomplishment.

Healthcare, she told reporters in 2022, “became our big issue and that will be the biggest thing that I’ve ever done in Congress.”

Fatima Goss Graves, head of the National Women’s Law Center which advocates for equality for women and girls, praised Pelosi’s work on landmark legislation, including the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 providing protections against pay discrimination.

“To say that Nancy Pelosi shattered the glass ceiling is an understatement,” Graves said.

With Pelosi’s looming exit from Washington, Congress is losing a historic figure who many saw as governing with an iron fist as she rushed, at near-breakneck speed in her trademark stiletto-heeled shoes, from meeting to meeting in the Capitol.

Democrats will also lose a prolific campaign fundraiser.

“I had to raise like a million dollars a day – well at least five days a week,” she once told reporters.

It will also lose a Californian who proudly eschewed the state’s reputation for healthy eating. Pelosi insisted she ate a hot dog with mustard and relish every day for lunch, plenty of Ghirardelli chocolates, and a breakfast that generally included ice cream.