Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of US House of Representatives, will run for re-election
Key Takeaways:
- Nancy Pelosi has declared that she will run for re-election, ending speculation that the 81-year-old congresswoman would resign over concerns that her Democratic Party would lose control of Congress in the 2022 midterm elections.
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, has announced she will run for re-election, putting an end to speculation that the 81-year-old legislator would step down amid fears that her Democratic Party would lose control of Congress in the 2022 midterm elections.
Pelosi will avoid becoming a so-called lame duck in a year once Democrats are clinging to a shaky majority in the House of Representatives and are under pressure to raise massive sums of money to keep control of Congress.
"While we've made progress, there's still a lot more that needs to be done to improve people's lives," Pelosi said in an online video on Tuesday.
"This election is extremely important. "Nothing less than our democracy is at stake," she added.
In midterm elections in the United States, the political party in charge of the White House usually loses seats in Congress. At a time when President Joe Biden's approval rating is dwindling, Democrats are defending both the House and the Senate.
Pelosi, who represents a California district that contains San Francisco, made history as the first woman speaker of the House 15 years ago.
Since 1987 she's been a member of Congress.
Pelosi does not say whether she plans to run for another term as Democratic House leader in the video. In January 2021, she was narrowly re-elected to the position, defeating Republican Kevin McCarthy 216–209, with five Democrats voting against her.
She is widely regarded as the overwhelming favorite to win her heavily Democratic district, which she won with 78 percent of the vote in 2020.
Pelosi cited recent attempts to sway presidential election results, fueled by former President Donald Trump's misinformation campaign, as motivation for her candidacy.
"The assault on the truth, the assault on the US Capitol, and the state-by-state assault on voting rights put our democracy in jeopardy," she added.