Guillermo is the CEO of Ignite, a political leadership program for young women.
Nancy Pelosi's decision to step down from House leadership brings up strong feelings. But it also has a similar impact on generations of women from across the political spectrum. I run an organization that engages young women to embrace political ambition and run for political office. Many of us saw Speaker Pelosi's achievement and realized we could go further than we realized. It is hard to overstate the impact that her career has had on our collective ambitions.
Pelosi has addressed hundreds of young women at Ignite events. She is always generous with her time. She takes a deep, personal interest in the future careers of young women she meets. Since she announced her decision not to run for a leadership position, I've heard from dozens of these young women across the political spectrum.
They have sent me photographs of them standing with Pelosi at Ignite events. They've told me, "This is the moment I realized I could run for office." Her interest in their ambitions is what convinced them that they, too, had the potential to lead. In the recent midterm elections, several Ignite alumni ran for office and won. Many of them told me that seeing Pelosi’ impact and leadership influenced their own journey in deciding to run.
This is 2022, but women still face tremendous barriers to pursuing a political career. Ten percent of senators are named Jon or John. Fewer than 30 percent of lawmakers are women. People ask men, meanwhile, far more often to run for office than they do women. And when they do ask women to run, it takes a lot more to persuade them than it does young men. Against that backdrop, Pelosi's career is all the more remarkable. She is still often pictured as the only woman in rooms full of men. She was elected the first female speaker of the House in 2007. At that point she became the highest-ranking woman in U.S. history. That achievement stood until the swearing-in of Vice President Kamala Harris in 2021.
Pelosi helped usher through reforms to our health care laws. She helped repeal military policies barring LGBTQ+ from serving. She supported same-sex marriage. She has been unafraid to stand up to China on its human rights record. These are generational issues. They have shifted global culture. They have enjoyed bipartisan support.
Several of Pelosi's staff cried as they applauded her when she walked from the floor. In politics, tears are a rarity. Such open displays of emotion aren't strategic. But the significance of Pelosi's decision cut through that. I also admired her choice to wear a white suit, speaking to the legacy of the women's suffrage movement. Let's not forget that women only got the vote in this country in 1919. That's just 21 years before Pelosi was born.
It means a lot, too, that Pelosi spoke about it being time for "a new generation to lead." The 2022 election was a “youth wave,” with near-historic numbers of young people turning out to vote. Young people turned out at their highest rates in states with razor-thin margins. Gen Z and millennials are on their way to becoming part of the largest voting bloc. They care about reproductive justice, mental health, student loans and more. Candidates who want to win need to speak to the issues young voters are passionate about. It is reassuring to see Pelosi recognizing that a new generation is ready to carry the torch.
We also should not dismiss that Pelosi's decision comes less than a month after a break-in at her home. The man has told investigators he intended to break her kneecaps. She has told the press that the attack – in which her husband was badly harmed – is a factor in her decision. We need to reflect on how our society has emboldened this kind of violence. We need to speak more about the barriers powerful women face and we need to pay vocal tribute to their courage in breaking through them.
In the meantime thank you, Nancy Pelosi, for the changes you have made possible.
Americans across the political spectrum have continued to ask about the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s connections among the political elite. (Angela Weiss/AFP)
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks to voters at a town hall at the Elks Lodge 188 on June 7, 2026, in Portland, Maine.
McConnell and Platner both feel entitled
The two men could not be more different. One, a Republican, octogenarian, seven-term Southern senator, the other a progressive, millennial Maine oysterman who’s never spent a day in elected office.
But Mitch McConnell, the senior senator from Kentucky who’s been MIA for the past few weeks and Graham Platner, the Maine Senate candidate who’s facing calls to drop out of his race against Sen. Susan Collins, apparently do have something in common: an outsized sense of entitlement.
McConnell, who is 84 and not running for reelection, has been hospitalized for three weeks, and yet we still don’t fully know what he was admitted for or what his condition is. Per CNN, “his office has not disclosed a medical reason for the hospitalization or provided specifics on his health status beyond saying last week that he ‘continues to improve’ and ‘is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters.’ ”
While several legislators have said they’ve talked to him and insist he sounds strong, others have said they are completely in the dark. One MAGA influencer, Laura Loomer, posted ”High level source close to the White House tells me ‘Mitch McConnell is officially brain dead. He’s not coming back.’ ”
Meanwhile, up in Maine, Platner has been artfully dodging calls from his own party to drop out of his race after several allegations of misconduct from women, including a sexual assault allegation from a former girlfriend, came to light. While Platner, who has managed to survive a Nazi-tattoo scandal, a sexting scandal, and several old tweets scandals, denies the allegations, he has not quit.
High-profile Democrats including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer, the latter of whom had unsuccessfully hand-selected Maine Gov. Janet Mills to face Collins instead of Platner, have urged Platner to drop out, while other Dems have accused him of trying to influence the picking of his replacement.
Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson released a statement Tuesday, which said in part:
“Unfortunately, Graham Platner’s team has repeatedly reached out to us in an attempt to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like. We have repeatedly reiterated to Graham Platner’s team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate nor in determining what this process looks like.”
Both incidents show a deep lack of accountability to voters, who in one case deserve to know whether their senator is capable of performing his duties, and in another deserve a candidate who isn’t being accused of crimes, bigotry and deception.
The offensive and odious entitlement of both McConnell and Platner stands out not because it is particularly unique among today’s political class. Tom Kean, the New Jersey GOP congressman, missed more than 100 votes, only sharing after a three-month mystery absence that he was dealing with depression.
Former President Joe Biden’s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin failed to disclose a hospitalization for prostate cancer surgery, flouting the established rules for Cabinet members and senior U.S. officials.
From Biden’s insistence on running for reelection despite his obvious cognitive and political weaknesses to Trump’s brazen flouting of laws and norms, few politicians seem to appreciate that their public service job comes with responsibilities to constituents, including transparency and honesty.
But both parties increasingly justify the chicanery, because the stakes of winning elections and keeping power are simply too high. But that’s no excuse. If we’ve learned anything over the past decade, it’s that character and accountability do, in fact, matter. And when we, the voters, stop caring about it, well, so do they.
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.