Pelosi says she won’t decide if she’s running for leadership until majority is determined

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Sunday declined to indicate if she will run for leadership in the new term, saying she will wait until it is clear who wins the House majority.

“My decision will again be rooted in what the wishes of my family and the wishes of my caucus, but none of it will be very much considered until we see what the outcome of all of this is,” Pelosi said on CNN’s “State of the Union” when asked about her intentions by co-anchor Dana Bash.

“There are all kinds of ways to exert influence,” Pelosi continued. “The Speaker has awesome power. But I will always have influence.”

On ABC’s “This Week,” Pelosi similarly demurred to anchor George Stephanopoulos.

“Right now I’m not making any comments until this election is finished, and we have a little more time to go,” Pelosi said. “I wish it was faster.” 

Democrats were projected to win a Senate majority after Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) won reelection, but control of the House remains up in the air, although Republicans appear favored to win a narrow majority.

When asked on CNN if her party will take the majority, defying most historical precedent, Pelosi responded: “We’ll see.”

“What we want to do is go forward in a very unified way as we go forward to prepare for the Congress at hand,” Pelosi said on CNN. “And then after some respite, get ready for the next election.”

Pelosi’s future was further complicated after a violent attack last month on her husband, Paul Pelosi. The Speaker has said the attack will affect her decision.

As the majority hangs in the balance, roughly 20 House races have yet to be called, with many undecided in California.

The state mails ballots to all active registered voters, creating a sluggish reporting process compared to most other states.

Pelosi on CNN expressed disappointment at Republican victories in key House races in New York. 

Those include a GOP sweep of races in Long Island and the defeat of Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.). Maloney had raised controversy among Democrats after switching to run in a new district this year.

Pelosi said Maloney did an “outstanding” job as head of House Democrats’ campaign arm, calling his defeat a “big loss.”

“My purpose in all of this is to first and foremost protect our incumbents,” Pelosi told Bash. “And that is what we have done in California and where we have seen opportunity to grow our majority. That has been our priority both in California and elsewhere. We’re disappointed as to what happened in New York, because that is a setback in terms of our calculations before, but we’ll see, there’s so many boats still out.”