Nancy Pelosi announces she’s running for reelection

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Nancy Pelosi, 81, announced Tuesday that she’s seeking reelection ahead of the 2022 midterms.
• The House speaker will run for a 19th term in office.
• Pelosi did not say whether she would retire from her leadership post.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California on Tuesday announced that she would run for reelection to the House of Representatives. The announcement ended speculation that she might retire from the lower chamber as she is set to leave leadership at the end of the current Congress.

“While we have made progress much more needs to be done to improve people’s lives,” Pelosi said in a video statement. “This election is crucial — nothing less is at stake than our democracy.”

She continued: “But we don’t agonize, we organize. I am running for re-election to Congress to deliver for the people and defend democracy.”

The 81-year-old lawmaker listed core Democratic issues — including improving access to healthcare, maintaining reproductive rights for women, creating middle-class union jobs, and battling the effects of climate change — as reasons why she is seeking reelection. She is currently serving her 18th two-year term in the chamber.

Pelosi was first elected to the House in a 1987 special election. She became the first woman to lead a political party in Congress — as House Minority Leader — in 2003.

She became the first female speaker in US history after the 2006 midterm elections.

During Pelosi’s first stint as speaker from 2007 to 2011, she was instrumental in scoring major legislative wins for then-President Barack Obama’s legislative agenda including the passage of the Affordable Care Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

After Democrats lost the House majority after the 2010 midterms, she served as minority leader and continued to keep the party unified despite lacking the power to control the floor in the GOP-led chamber.

When Donald Trump assumed the presidency in 2017, Pelosi became a key foil in keeping Democrats on the offensive against the conservative administration. She led the party to a House majority in the 2018 midterm elections.

As part of a deal made with several of the party’s more moderate members, Pelosi agreed to serve for no longer than four additional years as speaker. This would set the stage for a new generation of leadership in the House.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries of New York is seen as the frontrunner to succeed Pelosi in leadership after the 2022 midterms.

Source: Yahoo! News