THE BUZZ: The Nancy Pelosi era is officially ending — sort of.

The speaker from San Francisco announced yesterday that she’d bow out of leadership but retain her House seat. That decision precludes her resigning and triggering a special election, as some thought Pelosi might do if Democrats surrendered their House majority. The inevitable and epic race for the seat Pelosi has held for 35 years will have to wait until at least 2024.

But this marked a watershed moment. Pelosi is synonymous with the Democratic Party, inspiring unparalleled reverence and fear as she adroitly guided her caucus through election cycles, landmark policy wins and four presidential administrations (she proudly recounted yesterday how she had “enjoyed working” with “three presidents,” pointedly omitting Donald Trump). She has towered over San Francisco and California politics: Gov. Gavin Newsom lauded Pelosi’s unheralded Trump-era work to halt cuts and “draconian impacts” to California. Power shifting to East Coast leaders, Newsom added, meant the “part of the United States west of the Mississippi” would need to augment its advocacy.

Pelosi’s leadership exit reflects a broader change happening in California politics. She turned 82 this year as multiple older California House Democrats retired, nudged by redistricting and the loss of a House seat. A younger generation that came up admiring Pelosi is eager to climb a political ladder with finite rungs. There’s a chance that in 2024 Californians will choose replacements for both Pelosi and Sen. Dianne Feinstein — a titanic shift. “The hour has come for a new generation to lead,” Pelosi said yesterday.

Thursday unfolded with dramatic uncertainty. Pelosi’s spokesman asserted before the speaker took the floor that she had not chosen which of two speeches she’d deliver. But her colleagues knew what was coming. They delayed the start of the floor session with a standing ovation for Pelosi. California Rep. Mark Takano — who was 27 when Pelosi first got to Congress in 1987 — marked Transgender Week by saying “there’s been no greater friend of trans people in this country or LGBTQ people than Speaker Nancy Pelosi.”

Dressed in her favored, symbolic white, Pelosi touched on history and an increasingly diverse House before delivering a paean to American democracy — and a warning about its vulnerability. “Many of us here have witnessed its fragility firsthand, tragically, in this chamber,” she said, referencing the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. The overrunning of the Capitol fits a trend of political extremism and violence that last month saw a man seeking to harm Pelosi and Democrats break into her San Francisco home and assault her husband. That informed Pelosi’s decision.

Yet Pelosi concluded with a message of hope and resilience. The midterms cost Pelosi’s party the House and effectively ended her speakership. But Pelosi argued for a deeper message in Democrats outperforming grim projections and election deniers losing. “The people stood in the breach and repelled the assault on democracy,” Pelosi said. “They resoundingly rejected violence and insurrection, and in doing so, they gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”

The history: Pelosi's precision: How 35 years in Congress shaped the end of her reign, by POLITICO’s Sarah Ferris.

Flashback: How the AP wrote up Pelosi’s initial Congress win.

Additional reading: POLITICO’s Rachael Bade on how two unsuccessful Trump impeachments became part of Pelosi’s legacy.

BUENOS DÍAS, good Friday morning. Mayors from around the state are meeting with Gov. Gavin Newsom today about homelessness after Newsom withheld funding from every city in California, saying their plans to get people off the street were not sufficient.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: “When I think of Nancy Pelosi, I think of dignity. History will note she is the most consequential Speaker of the House of Representatives in our history.” President Joe Biden on Pelosi’s legacy.

BONUS QOTD: “I, quite frankly, personally, have been ready to leave for a while, because there are things I want to do. I like to dance, I like to sing. There’s a life out there, right?” Pelosi tells the AP more about her decision.

TWEET OF THE DAY:

WHERE’S GAVIN? In Sacramento meeting with local officials.

KREMLIN IN THE MARKET — “How a Mega-Rich Oligarch Linked to Putin Derailed a Bay Area Homeless Shelter,” by the San Francisco Standard’s Matthew Kupfer and Matt Smith: “San Francisco politician Aaron Peskin thought he’d gotten lucky: He had just discovered that an unused Mission Revival church in San Francisco’s tony Russian Hill neighborhood was up for lease.”

— “L.A. COVID swindlers living European life of luxury extradited from Montenegro,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Michael Finnegan: “A pair of Los Angeles convicts who escaped to a European life of luxury under fake names after running a pandemic fraud ring were extradited Thursday from Montenegro to the United States, Montenegrin authorities said.”

RIP TWITTER — “Hundreds of employees say no to being part of Elon Musk’s ‘extremely hardcore’ Twitter,” by the Verge’s Alex Heath and Mia Sato: “Musk gave Twitter staff a deadline to say if they are staying for his cultural reset of the company. And right on deadline, the farewell emojis started pouring into Twitter’s Slack.”

PORTER POWER: Democratic Rep. Katie Porter officially won re-election yesterday, defending her Orange County seat. No frontline California incumbent of either party has lost yet, and GOP Rep. David Valadao — the final uncalled one — retains a five-plus-point lead over Democratic challenger Assembly member Rudy Salas. 

NO REST FOR THE WEARY — “Assemblymember Jose Medina announces bid for Riverside County supervisor,” by the Press-Enterprise’s Jeff Horseman: “Assemblymember Jose Medina is leaving public office soon. But he hopes it’s a short absence. Medina, D-Riverside, announced Thursday, Nov. 17, that he plans to run for Riverside County supervisor in 2024, setting up a potential showdown with another Inland state lawmaker seeking the same seat.”

— “Breed-picked school board member Ann Hsu loses to anti-recall school board candidate,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Jill Tucker: “A newcomer and progressive beat out a more moderate mayoral appointee to take the third and last seat on the San Francisco school board, an outcome that leaves the district with politically divided leadership.”

THE BREED BEAT — “London Breed had the Midas touch on Election Night. What does that mean for her — and the city’s — future?” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Justin Phillips: “With Breed-picked school board member Ann Hsu looking like she’ll fall short in her big-spending bid for a full term, the mayor will likely finish this election with four out of five of her appointees winning their races.”

— “How California could count every vote faster,” by CalMatters’ Alexei Koseff and Sameea Kamal: “Though election experts in California say there are several ways the state could potentially speed up the tally, there is little urgency to prioritize them. With policymakers focused instead on improving accessibility, participation and security, the waiting game seems here to stay.”

SWEET VICTORY — Bass promises quick action on homelessness in first remarks since winning LA mayor race, by POLITICO’s Alexander Nieves: Rep. Karen Bass promised quick action on homelessness and had kind words for her billionaire opponent in her first public remarks since winning the most expensive mayor's race in Los Angeles history.

— “Tribes celebrate as biggest dam removal project in history is about to start in California,” by the Sacramento Bee’s Ryan Sabalow: “The biggest dam-removal project in history moved one step closer to reality Thursday after the federal government cleared a key regulatory hurdle that would allow demolition to begin on four hydroelectric dams along California’s border with Oregon.”

ORIENTATION — “Bass, First Black Woman in LA Mayor Post, Confronts Fed-Up City,” by Bloomberg’s Ella Ceron: “Winning the tight race to become the first female and second Black mayor of Los Angeles was a tough fight for Karen Bass. Now comes the harder job of uniting a city confronting a racism scandal, worsening homelessness crisis and rising crime rates.”

— “What the transition from ‘Madame Speaker’ to ‘Rep. Pelosi’ might look like,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Joe Garofoli and Shira Stein: “But it will be hard for someone who dominated the House Democratic caucus for two decades to suddenly recede into the back benches. Not only has she been one of the nation’s most powerful elected officials over that period, she has been one of its most prodigious political fundraisers, hauling in $1.2 billion over her time in leadership.”

DOMINO EFFECT — “Berkeley Law won’t participate in U.S. News influential law school rankings,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Michael Cabanatuan: “UC Berkeley’s law school announced Thursday that it will no longer participate in the U.S. News rankings of law schools, joining Harvard and Yale in the decision to pull out of the annual list.”

RAISED EYEBROWS — “City Flags FBI After Finding ‘Criminal Activity’ at Homelessness Nonprofit” by the San Francisco Standard’s Annie Gaus and David Sjostedt: “An audit found a pattern of serious problems at a government-funded nonprofit that provides housing and other homelessness services, and the city has referred the audit to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the District Attorney’s office as a criminal matter.”

— “Fight Over Health Care Minimum Wage Yields a Split Decision in Southern California,” by California Healthline’s Rachel Bluth: “Inglewood residents were poised to approve a ballot measure that would boost the minimum wage to $25 at private hospitals, psychiatric facilities, and dialysis clinics. The latest vote count showed Measure HC leading 54% to 46%, according to Los Angeles County election officials.”

CROSS COUNTRY — “Republican control of the House could deepen America’s red-blue divide,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Noah Bierman: “Citizens’ right to carry a gun, get an abortion, join a union and their rate for a minimum wage job now depend almost entirely on whether their state is blue or red. Biology and American history texts offer different curriculums on slavery, Jim Crow and human sexuality.”

— House GOP makes clear it's going after Joe Biden via Hunter, by POLITICO’s Jordain Carney: Now that they’ve taken the majority at last, House Republicans made it explicit on Thursday: Their long-simmering investigation into Hunter Biden investigation is really about his father.

ULTIMATUM — Elon Musk gives Europe’s digital watchdogs their biggest test yet, by POLITICO’s Mark Scott, Vincent Manancourt, Laura Kayali, Clothilde Goujard and Louis Westendarp: After Elon Musk bought Twitter — and fired almost anyone whose job it was to deal with regulators — the social networking giant is now facing a flood of legal challenges across the European Union.

LAYOFF LEGACY — “Silicon Valley layoffs aren’t just a cost-cutting measure. They’re a culture reset,” by Vox’s Amanda Lewellyn: “Lyft. Robinhood. Stripe. Netflix. Coinbase. They’re all downsizing. And they’re not just axing jobs — they’re also doing away with some of the perks that have become synonymous with working in tech.”

— “Billionaires like Elon Musk want to save civilization by having tons of genetically superior kids. Inside the movement to take 'control of human evolution.'” by Insider’s Julia Black: “Malcolm [Collins], 36, and his wife, Simone, 35, are "pronatalists," part of a quiet but growing movement taking hold in wealthy tech and venture-capitalist circles. People like the Collinses fear that falling birth rates in certain developed countries like the United States and most of Europe will lead to the extinction of cultures, the breakdown of economies, and, ultimately, the collapse of civilization.”

LATTE LABOR — “Unionized workers walk out of S.F. Starbucks, joining over 100 coffee shops in actions across the nation,” by the San Francisco Chronicles’ Jordan Parker.

— “L.A. County deputy who kneeled on inmate’s head will not be charged, D.A.'s memo says,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Alene Tchekmedyian.

— “‘Out of the coma’: COVID-19 nearly killed Rocklin tennis coach; now he’s back in the game,” by the Sacramento Bee’s Cameron Salerno.

— “California’s Mojave desert tortoises move toward extinction. Why saving them is so hard,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Louis Sahagún.

— “Elizabeth Holmes, pregnant again, faces Friday sentencing: Here’s what to expect,” by the Mercury News’ Ethan Baron.

Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.)

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