Nancy Pelosi adamantly refusing to step down — embodying the problem with Democratic leadership: sources
Nancy Pelosi is adamant she won’t release her grip on the Democratic Party despite their resounding defeat in 2024 and a growing chorus urging her to step down, sources tell The Post.
Ex-President Joe Biden named Pelosi one of the chief architects of the move to push him aside for Kamala Harris to run at short notice, and she was instrumental in the disastrous $1 billion campaign which followed – leading the party to lose the White House, Senate and House of Representatives.
Younger members of the party and even current House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries believe it’s time for a refresh and new leadership, according to sources, but Pelosi insists on business as usual.
“As long as Nancy takes a breath, she is going to do what she wants to do,” said Willie Brown, a former mayor of San Francisco who once dated former Vice President Harris.
“She’s the heart and soul of the Democratic Party, particularly for Californians,” he added to The Post.
Behind the scenes some see it differently, according to one Democratic former New York City lawmaker who complained Pelosi still “meddles” in national affairs.
“Hakeem wants her out,” they said, referring to Jeffries. “Nancy has her hand in every decision he makes as leader. She just can’t help herself.”
A spokesperson for Jeffries said in a statement: “Leader Jeffries has repeatedly and publicly made clear that he and House Democrats are proud to stand on the historic shoulders of Nancy D’Alesandro Pelosi.”
Despite having just turned 85, the Speaker Emerita – as Pelosi calls herself – has already filed paperwork in November to run for Congress in 2026 and has nearly $10 million in her campaign coffers, according to the Federal Election Commission.
With a personal net worth estimated at $250 million and 20-terms as a congresswoman, younger members of the party feel Pelosi has become the very embodiment of the well-heeled corporate Democrat, an image they desperately want to shake.
“I really feel like the Democrats actually need to become a party that’s fighting tooth and nail for the working class and middle class right now,” said Saikat Chakrabarti, 39, one of her opponents in the 2026 Democratic primary.
Chakrabarti explained how after the 2024 election he was expecting changes. Instead, he listened to Pelosi tell a New York Times podcaster everything would be status quo.
“She basically made the case for how the Democrats don’t really need to change,” Chakrabarti told Rolling Stone. “You know, that they ran a great race, did their best, and nothing needs to change. That was the first warning sign to me.”
Chakrabarti is a software engineer and progressive political advisor who was formerly chief of staff to New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, where he was an architect of her doomed Green New Deal environmental initiative.
His points are echoed by Jake Rakov, 37, who is running for a seat in Southern California. He is one of surprisingly few California Democrats contacted by The Post who is unafraid to step out of line and criticize party leadership.
“I am running because the Democratic Party needs a new generation to step up,” Rakov told The Post last week. “Nancy Pelosi has been there for a great long time, and she has done amazing things, but right now we need new energy for Congress.”
Rakov, a former communications consultant, is challenging the seat of Brad Sherman, 70, who has been in Congress for nearly 30 years. He also used to work as an aide to Sherman at one time.
Rakov said he is refusing to take corporate Political Action Committee money for his campaign to avoid being beholden to any business interests.
He is also running on a pledge to impose term limits on Congress, limiting lawmakers to five terms. “It was never meant to be a lifelong career,” he added.
If Pelosi were to pass the baton to a younger candidate in her district, she would likely step down midway through a term then back her daughter, Christine Pelosi, in a special election for her seat, according to a Democratic campaign finance expert who did not want to be identified.
“If I had to guess about Pelosi’s next move, I would say she is preparing to resign and give the seat to her daughter,” the expert said.
Christine Pelosi, 58, is a Democratic political strategist, author and former Women’s Caucus Chair of the Democratic Party in California. She also served as Special Counsel of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Clinton/Gore administration in 1999-2001.
Brown, 91, told The Post he has known Pelosi – the first woman to occupy the House Speaker’s chair, in 2007-2011 and again in 2019-2023 – for more than 50 years.
He saw her at an event in San Francisco last month, although the two did not speak about politics, and he doesn’t think she will step down soon.
“Nobody matches her with the speakership skills that Nancy is blessed with. She is awesome in every way,” he added.
In addition to contemplating her future in politics, the octogenarian is still helping her venture capitalist husband Paul recover from an attack by a deranged intruder who broke into the family’s San Francisco home in 2022 and bashed him with a hammer.
David DePape, the conspiracy theory crazed attacker, initially said he was looking for Nancy after he broke in and found her husband asleep in bed. He was sentenced to life without parole in October.
The couple also recently raised eyebrows when Paul Pelosi made $38 million worth of stock trades in the weeks before Trump took office in January.
Paul Pelosi sold $24 million worth of Apple stock as well as $5 million worth of shares in AI chip-maker Nvidia. Both of the transactions were executed on New Year’s Eve, according to government filings. Nancy Pelosi is legally required to disclose her husband’s stock trades.
In the past her husband’s stock trades, which have been noted as particularly timely investments before key legislative actions, have sparked ongoing debates about potential conflicts of interest and the need for stricter regulations on lawmakers’ financial activities.
Pelosi initially opposed proposals for lawmakers and their spouses to be banned from trading stocks — insisting her husband makes stock trades independently and that she has no involvement in his business dealings.
