Nancy Pelosi

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Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi (born March 26, 1940) is the 60th and current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, following the 2006 Congressional elections, and is the first woman, first Californian, and first Italian American in U.S. history to hold that office. Pelosi ranks second in the Presidential line of succession following Vice President Dick Cheney. No woman has been closer to the Presidency.

Pelosi was the House Minority Leader of the 107th, 108th, and 109th Congresses of the United States. Since 1987, she has been the representative from the 8th district of California (numbered as 5th until 1993), which falls entirely within and includes most of the city and county of San Francisco.

Early life and career

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Pelosi was born Nancy D'Alesandro to Italian-American parents in Baltimore, Maryland.[1] The youngest of six children, she was involved with politics from an early age. Her father, Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr., was a U.S. Congressman from Maryland and a Mayor of Baltimore. Thomas L. J. D'Alesandro III, one of her five brothers, also served as Mayor of Baltimore from 1967 to 1971.

Pelosi graduated from Baltimore's Institute of Notre Dame high school and from Trinity College (now Trinity Washington University) in Washington, D.C. in 1962, where she met her future husband Paul Pelosi. When the couple married, they moved to his hometown of San Francisco, where his brother Ron Pelosi was a member of the city's board of supervisors[2] (San Francisco city and county council).

After her youngest child became a high school senior, Pelosi worked her way up in Democratic politics to become party chairwoman for Northern California, and joined forces with one of the leaders of the California Democratic Party, 5th District Congressman Phillip Burton.

Pelosi is an honorary board member of the National Organization of Italian American Women.

Family
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Pelosi has five children: Nancy Corinne, Christine, Jacqueline, Paul, and Alexandra. Alexandra, a journalist, covered the Republican presidential campaigns in 2000 and made a film about the experience, Journeys with George. She also wrote a book on coverage of the 2004 campaigns.

The Pelosi family has a net worth of over US$25 million, primarily from Paul Pelosi's investments. In addition to their large portfolio of jointly owned San Francisco Bay Area real estate, he also has millions of dollars in stock from publicly traded companies such as Microsoft, Amazon.com and AT&T. In 2003, the Pelosi family sold their eight-acre (three hectare) Rutherford vineyard. Pelosi continues to be among the richest members of Congress.[3]

Congressional career

Representative Phillip Burton died in 1983 and was succeeded by his wife, Sala. In late 1986, Sala became ill with cancer and decided not to run for reelection in 1988, and suggested that Pelosi run for the seat. Sala died on February 1, 1987, just a month after being sworn in for a second full term. Pelosi won a special election to succeed her, narrowly defeating San Francisco Supervisor Harry Britt, and took office on June 2, 1987. She was elected to a full term in 1988 and re-elected ten times, receiving 76-86% of the vote each time.

Pelosi represents one of the safest Democratic districts in the country. Democrats have held the seat since 1949, and Republicans, who currently make up only 13 percent of registered voters in the district, have not made a serious bid for the seat since the early 1960s. Pelosi has kept this tradition going. Since her initial victory in 1987, she has received at least 75% of the vote and has declined to participate in candidates' debates.[4] Nevertheless, Pelosi's politics are more conservative than many San Francisco voters, which has led to some conflicts with her constituents.[5][6]

In the House, she served on the Appropriations and Intelligence Committees, and was the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee for two years.

Democratic Party leadership

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In 2001, Pelosi was elected the House Minority Whip, second-in-command to Minority Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri. She was the first woman in U.S. history to reach that position. Since then, she has campaigned for candidates in 30 states and in 90 Congressional districts.

In 2002, after Gephardt resigned as minority leader to seek the Democratic nomination in the 2004 presidential election, Pelosi was elected to replace him, becoming the first woman to lead a major party in the House.

Electoral History

* 2006 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 8th District
o Nancy Pelosi (D) (inc.), 80%
o Mike DeNunzio (R), 10%
o Krissy Keefer (G), 8%
o Philip Z. Berg (L), 1.5%

* 2004 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 8th District
o Nancy Pelosi (D) (inc.), 83%
o Jennifer Depalma (R), 12%
o Leilani Dowell (PF), 3.5%
o Terry Baum (G) (write-in) 2%

* 2002 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 8th District
o Nancy Pelosi (D) (inc.), 80%
o G. Michael Geman (R), 13%
o Jay Pond (G), 6%
o Ira Spivack (L), 2%

* 2000 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 8th District
o Nancy Pelosi (D) (inc.), 85%
o Adam Sparks (R), 12%
o Erik Bauman (L), 3%
o David Smithstein (NL), 1.2%

* 1998 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 8th District
o Nancy Pelosi (D) (inc.), 86%
o David Martz (R), 12%
o David Smithstein (NL), 2%

* 1996 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 8th District
o Nancy Pelosi (D) (inc.), 84%
o Justin Raimondo (R), 12%
o David Smithstein (NL), 3%

* 1994 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 8th District
o Nancy Pelosi (D) (inc.), 82%
o Elsa C. Cheung (R), 18%

* 1992 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 8th District
o Nancy Pelosi (D) (inc.), 82%
o Marc Wolin (R), 11%
o James R. Elwood (L), 3%
o Cesar G. Cadabes, (PF), 3%

* 1990 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 5th District
o Nancy Pelosi (D) (inc.), 77%
o Alan Nichols (R), 23%

* 1988 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 5th District
o Nancy Pelosi (D), 76%
o Bruce Michael O'Neill (R), 19%
o Sam Grove (L), 2%
o Theodore "Ted" Zuur (PF), 2%