Better Watch Your Back, Nancy!

Nancy Pelosi’s days as the reigning queen of the House of Representatives may soon be coming to an unceremonious end. Not because she abdicated her Democrat Party leadership position in November 2022 and handed over her speaker’s gavel in January 2023, assuming the ceremonial title of "Speaker Emerita". And not even because the 85-year-old grandmother of nine is currently serving her 19th representing California’s 11th district.

No, the reason that Nancy Pelosi had better watch her back as the 2026 midterm elections approach is because David Hogg, the 25-year-old vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, has decided that some of the Party’s more entrenched lawmakers are simply too stuck-in-their-ways.

Calling them “ineffective, asleep-at-the-wheel”, Hogg is planning to spend $20 million in safe-blue Democratic primaries against sitting House members by supporting younger opponents. Hogg, who co-founded Leaders We Deserve in 2023, said his group will not back primary challenges in battleground districts because “I want us to win the majority,” nor will it target members solely based on their age. However, seniority is another story.

“We have a culture of seniority politics that has created a litmus test of who deserves to be here,” Hogg said. “We need people, regardless of their age, that are here to fight.”

As you can imagine, Hogg’s not-so-idle threats have gone over like a lead balloon in the hallowed halls of Congress, at least on the Democratic side of the aisle. Basically, the 60 & over crowd is fit to be tied… and their level of anger and angst increases with each decade of life.

Do you think Steny Hoyer - who is 85 years old, in his 23rd term, and was first sworn in the same year as Ronald Reagan - isn't looking over his shoulder? How about 86-year-old Maxine Waters?

Meanwhile, DNC Chair Ken Martin is trying to smooth ruffled feathers while walking the proverbial tightrope, not wanting to send the octogenarian powerbrokers into defib nor alienate the Gen X, Y, and Zer’s that are the future of the Party. Good luck straddling that fence, Ken, without picking up a seat full of splinters!

How this will all play out over the next 18 months should make for some great political theater. I just wish I owned the popcorn stand in the House cafeteria.

Editor’s Note: The reverberations of Hogg’s announcements have apparently reached the Senate chambers because Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Democratic Whip and #2-ranking member of the Democratic caucus, just announced that he will not seek re-election in 2026. Stay tuned, folks!