Outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi Will Run for House Minority Leader

Nov. 5, 2010 -- Outgoing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said this afternoon that she is running to become the House minority leader in the next session of Congress, dispelling rumors that she planned to resign from House Democratic leadership or retire from Congress.

Pelosi, D-Calif., explained her decision in a letter to House Democrats, revealing that she had been widely encouraged to seek the post.

"Many of our colleagues have called with their recommendations on how to continue our fight for the middle class, and have encouraged me to run for House Democratic leader," Pelosi wrote. "Based on those discussions, and driven by the urgency of protecting health care reform, Wall Street reform, and Social Security and Medicare, I have decided to run."

Pelosi, the first female speaker of the House in U.S. history, told her Democratic colleagues that they must work together to ensure that Republicans do not overturn the legislation Democrats have passed during the past four years under Democratic control of the House.

"We have no intention of allowing our great achievements to be rolled back. It is my hope that we can work in a bipartisan way to create jobs and strengthen the middle class," Pelosi wrote.

"Our work is far from finished. As a result of Tuesday's election, the role of Democrats in the 112th Congress will change, but our commitment to serving the American people will not."

In the letter, Pelosi asked for the support of each of her House Democratic colleagues and invited them to share their thoughts on the leadership race.

"I am writing to respectfully request your support and I look forward to hearing your views. Please let me know what you are thinking," she wrote.

Pelosi served as minority leader from 2003 until 2007, when Democrats seized control of the House after the congressional midterm elections.

In an exclusive ABC News interview with Pelosi the day after the election, she told Diane Sawyer that she had not made up her mind.

"I'll have a conversation with my caucus, I'll have a conversation with my family, and pray over it, and decide how to go forward," she said Wednesday.

So far, Pelosi has no opposition for the post, although Rep. Heath Shuler, D-N.C., has said that if she decided to run for minority leader, he would challenge her. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, has also called for new leadership at the top of the House Democratic caucus, although it's unclear whether he would challenge her himself.