Nancy Pelosi’s announcement that she will not seek reelection and will retire after nearly 40 years in Congress is the kind of moment conservatives have been waiting for. The veteran San Francisco Democrat, now 85, has been a towering figure of the modern left, and her decision to step away marks the end of an era of entrenched Capitol Hill power.
Make no mistake: Pelosi’s decades in Washington reshaped the Democratic Party into the activist, big-government machine it is today, shepherding major bills while presiding over two presidential impeachments and an unapologetic culture-war approach. Her legacy includes landmark legislation that will be debated for years, but it also includes a political style that helped radicalize and nationalize local politics.
Conservative audiences also got to enjoy the optics. Dave Rubin’s roundtable, which featured Michael Malice and Alex Stein, replayed the kind of brutal, unapologetic reaction from President Trump that the mainstream media refuses to celebrate for patriotic Americans. The clip circulating through conservative channels showed Trump’s quick, merciless humor landing exactly where it should: on a leader who built an empire of insider politics and media theatrics.
That reaction matters because it punctures the sanctimony that protected Pelosi for decades. For too long our institutions treated political bosses as untouchable while ordinary citizens paid the price for their policies—skyrocketing housing costs, lawless cities, and a national culture that rewards spectacle over results. Conservatives should not apologize for pointing out that leadership means results, not legacy narratives.
Pelosi’s exit also arrives at a consequential moment for California politics. The recent statewide battles over redistricting and ballot measures underscore how Democrats are scrambling to lock in power even as their icons retire. Pelosi’s name was on ballot arguments supporting the state’s partisan redistricting push, a reminder that her influence extended beyond tenure and into the very maps Democrats hope will secure their majority.
Republicans and conservative reformers must treat this opening like the rare political gift it is: an opportunity to contest a seat that has been a Democrat stronghold and to show voters a real alternative to the coastal status quo. Prominent local figures have already signaled interest in the seat, and GOP activists should mobilize with grassroots energy and conservative policy proposals that speak to ordinary Americans’ concerns about safety, taxes, and opportunity.
This moment is both a victory lap and a warning: celebrate the removal of entrenched power, but don’t grow complacent. Keep calling out the failures of elite governance, keep rewarding leaders who put America first, and keep supporting bold conservatives who will turn pinstriped rhetoric into real change for working families. The left can mourn its queen; we should be preparing our next generation of fighters.
