Pelosi faces uncertain future weeks after attack on husband

WASHINGTON — The morning after the midterm election, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slipped on a sterling silver whistle given to her by her husband, who was attacked last month by an intruder at their San Francisco home.

The whistle was similar to those worn by coaches or drill sergeants, and she wore it at her office after a long night of watching election returns. Staff members were assembled for a pizza party lunch in the same conference room where she has led her party through some of the most tumultuous times at the U.S. Capitol.

She blew the whistle as she entered, and the staff cheered. With the races close and many votes still being counted, it was time for the waiting to begin. The final results will determine which party controls the House — and Pelosi’s own future.

The Democratic leader, whose plans are uncertain, has arrived at a crossroads: The nation’s first, and only, female speaker could be forced to relinquish the gavel if Republicans win majority control, a potential defeat coming just weeks after the chilling assault that fractured her husband’s skull.

This could be the end of Pelosi’s long tenure in Congress. Or not.

Many expect her to retire rather than lead Democrats in a shrunken minority. The attack on her husband, Paul, made her exit seem even more likely. He was assaulted less than two weeks before the election, when a man invaded their home searching for his wife.

And yet after rising to become perhaps the most consequential House speaker in decades, Pelosi is not one to simply step aside. When asked ahead of the election if she had decided to stay or go, she said only that the attack on her spouse of nearly 60 years would be a factor.

“I have to say my decision will be affected about what happened,” Pelosi said on CNN.

The response became something of a Rorschach test on Capitol Hill: Some believe Pelosi will retire to spend time with her family — she and her husband are both 82. Others sensed her driven determination to stay on the job.

A cohort of younger Democratic lawmakers, some who have spent years in Congress, are waiting for Pelosi and other top House leaders to pass the baton. She had once said this would be her last term in leadership, but that was four years ago, and she no longer mentions it.

“That’s a conversation for another day,” Pelosi said on election night on the PBS “NewsHour.”

Pelosi’s rise instantly established her place in history — not only as the first female speaker, but as the only speaker in 70 years to have won the office twice, in 2007 and again in 2019.

But it’s what Pelosi did with the gavel — steering the Affordable Care Act into law with Barack Obama and twice impeaching Donald Trump — that seals her legacy as one of the strongest political figures in America.

The day after the election, she arrived in Egypt for the international COP-27 climate change conference as she works to project U.S. influence abroad. One of her first pieces of legislation as a new lawmaker 35 years ago was climate-related.

For years, Pelosi has been ridiculed by Republicans, her image lampooned more than any other in endless GOP campaign ads.

Top Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, downplayed the attack on her husband and spread misinformation about it. A vulgar fringe theory quickly made its way into the mainstream at a time of rising threats against elected officials.

“A lot of people would wither under the pressure that she’s under,” said Douglas Brinkley, a professor of history at Rice University.

Brinkley said it would be sad if Pelosi’s career ended after “such a grotesque moment.” But he compared her to other powerful figures, including Coretta Scott King, who continued in public service after the assassination of her husband, Martin Luther King Jr.

“I see that spirit in her, that no-quit — the grit,” Brinkley added, saying it reminded him of Theodore Roosevelt.