(Headline USA) Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., officially filed to run for reelection, setting the stage to once again lead the Democratic Party’s opposition to President-elect Donald Trump.
The 84-year-old Democratic leader filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday after winning her 20th term in November’s election.
Trump’s sweeping victory likely had a role in her decision, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
She has already begun organizing Democratic representatives and shaping their strategy to fight Trump, as she did during his first term.
When asked directly if she plans to run again when her term ends in 2026, Pelosi refused to answer.
“I’m not here to talk about that,” Pelosi told the New York Times. “I’m here to fight the fight so that we win in the next election. I must have thought I had the last term over and over again, but as fate would have it, the mission called.”
Pelosi stepped down as the House Democratic leader in 2022 to allow the younger members of the caucus to rise.
But her influence remains as potent as ever. It was Pelosi, for example, who played a key role in forcing President Joe Biden out of the 2024 race.
But not everyone in the Democratic Party is happy with Pelosi’s continued role. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., blasted the former speaker this week, arguing her betrayal of Biden cost Democrats politically.
“She really tried to—what’s the word I’m looking for?—she embraced this, ‘She’s the godmother, she’s the enforcer,’” he said. “And now she’s blaming Biden. Well, you can’t have it both ways. You got what you wanted, and now you’re still blaming Biden.”
Fetterman argued it’s time for Pelosi to give it up.
“I think it’s really ironic that you have a woman at age 84 and she is still hanging on. Why not give a younger generation an opportunity to occupy that seat?” he said.
