Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is leaving Congress, and she’s holding on to most of her massive political money stash — at least for now, according to new federal campaign finance filings.
Pelosi, one of the Democratic Party’s most prolific and powerful fundraisers of her generation, has more than $9 million in reserve across three political committees: Nancy Pelosi for Congress, her leadership political committee PAC to the Future and the Nancy Pelosi Victory Fund joint fundraising committee.
The Federal Election Commission filings reviewed by NOTUS indicate that Pelosi, who announced in November that she wouldn’t seek reelection, took a conservative approach to spending down her political war chest in the final months of 2025.
Ann Ravel, a former FEC chair and longtime California resident, said that it’s not out of the ordinary that Pelosi would choose to keep much of her political money in reserve as she finishes out her term, which ends in January 2027.
“I don’t think that that’s totally abnormal. She’s obviously not going to run again, and she wants to be able to support some individuals,” Ravel said.
Pelosi’s PAC to the Future donated to Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s campaign for U.S. Senate in Texas. Pelosi has not otherwise endorsed Crockett, who is in a competitive Democratic primary against Texas state Rep. James Talarico, but the contribution of $5,000 could signal Pelosi’s preference in the primary.
About three weeks before the committee donated to Crockett, PAC to the Future donated the same amount to former Rep. Colin Allred’s campaign for Senate. But Allred dropped out of the race in early December and then launched a campaign for a congressional House seat in the Dallas area.
Pelosi’s three committees donated four- or five-figure amounts late last year to 16 other Democratic congressional candidates apart from Crockett. That includes Rep. Dan Goldman of New York, Rep. Don Davis of North Carolina and Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, who is widely considered to be one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the Senate this election cycle.
“Speaker Emerita Pelosi ran circles around Donald Trump during his first term, and she knows that Dan will be essential for Democrats to do that again next January,” Simone Kanter, Goldman’s campaign manager, said in a statement to NOTUS about the contributions from Pelosi’s campaign committee and PAC to the Future.
PAC to the Future made two $5,000 contributions late last year to the reelection campaign of Sen. Mark Warner, according to new filings.
“Speaker Emerita Pelosi is using her PAC to the Future to fund Democratic efforts to take back the House in November and elect Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker,” Ian Krager, a spokesperson for Pelosi, said in a statement to NOTUS.
Pelosi’s congressional committee donated a combined $10,000 to three California Democratic organizations: the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, the Noe Valley Democratic Club and the Sacramento County Young Democrats.
It likewise donated $30,000 in October to Working Families for Fair Elections, an organization of “California workers making sure we pass Proposition 50,” the California ballot initiative that subsequently passed in the November special election.
Pelosi’s separate joint fundraising committee gave $100,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Pelosi will have plenty of opportunity in 2026 to spread her money around as she sees fit.
The race for governor in California, which has a plethora of Democratic candidates, could be one race on which Pelosi decides to spend, Ravel said.
There are also numerous competitive House and Senate races where her committees’ money will be most welcome as Democrats attempt to win back both chambers of Congress.
Pelosi has other options for her surplus political cash, including donating it to charities of her choosing.
It’s unclear who will next represent Pelosi’s congressional district, which is centered in San Francisco. The race has a contested Democratic primary, and Pelosi has yet to endorse a successor.
This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS — a publication from the nonpartisan Allbritton Journalism Institute — and NEWSWELL, home of Times of San Diego, Santa Barbara News-Press and Stocktonia.
