Nancy Pelosi says she’s running for reelection to represent SF

Nancy Pelosi announced Friday that she will run for reelection to continue representing San Francisco in Congress.

“Now more than ever our City needs us to advance San Francisco values and further our recovery,” she wrote in a social media post. “Our country needs America to show the world that our flag is still there, with liberty and justice for ALL. That is why I am running for reelection — and respectfully ask for your vote.” 

Pelosi has maintained her congressional seat since 1987, alternately serving as House minority leader and speaker of the House. Shortly after last year’s midterm elections, Pelosi decided to step down from leadership but said she would remain in Congress, despite rumors that she may retire. She will turn 84 years old in March of next year.

Pelosi’s announcement comes at a time when the age of some of the nation’s top leaders has come under increased scrutiny.

Should Joe Biden win reelection next year, the president — already the oldest person to hold that office in U.S. history — would be 86 by the time he finishes his second term, and voters have repeatedly cited his age as a cause for concern. The health of Mitch McConnell, the 81-year-old Republican leader in the Senate, has also been in the news after a pair of incidents in which he appeared to freeze while speaking to reporters.

Another California lawmaker, Dianne Feinstein, has faced questions about her mental acuity and ability to serve as a senator. Feinstein, 90, missed several months of work after complications from a shingles diagnosis earlier this year, and her absence on the Senate Judiciary Committee — which is tasked with approving the president’s judicial nominations — led to several calls for her resignation. A poll from June found that nearly a supermajority of California voters want Feinstein to resign.

Together, Pelosi and Feinstein, who is also from San Francisco, have served in Congress for more than 65 years. Before Pelosi’s announcement on Friday, the idea that the two lawmakers would both leave office at similar times generated concerns about who might take their place. 

“The day is coming when we’re going to start out with a baby congressperson and some baby senator,” Aaron Peskin, the president of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, said in a Politico profile about Pelosi that published Thursday. 

Pelosi’s decision has political ramifications in the Bay Area and throughout the state. There are a number of presumed challengers for her seat whenever she does retire, including her daughter Christine Pelosi, as well as state Sen. Scott Wiener.

This breaking news story has been updated.