U.S. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi appeared onstage during the 2025 Concordia Annual Summit at Sheraton New York Times Square on Sept. 23, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia Annual Summit)

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who made history as the first woman to hold the speaker’s gavel, announced Thursday she will retire, ending a 40-year legislative career as one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress. 

Her announcement came after Tuesday’s elections. Pelosi had a hand in crafting what was known as Proposition 50  in California to redraw the state’s congressional districts, in response to Republican redistricting efforts in Texas to gain more GOP seats in the House.  

The remap passed, and Democrats swept major state races across the country, including the governorships in Virginia and New Jersey.

In a video posted to social media, Pelosi, 85, thanked her constituents in her San Francisco congressional district. 

“I will not be seeking reelection to Congress,” Pelosi said. “With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year in service as your proud representative.”

Tributes to Pelosi poured in throughout the day.

“She made history as the first woman speaker of the House of Representatives, yes, but in that moment she also altered the way we conceive political power,” said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics, a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. “She made the imaginary real, and for young people who knew no other world, she permanently shifted the boundaries of the possible.”