Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) have been colleagues for more than two decades. Since their early days on Capitol Hill, they have been close allies. Here, a history.
Created by RollCall on Jun 1, 2009
Last updated: 03/11/10 at 05:52 PM
Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), an anti-earmark crusader, forces the first vote on a call for an ethics investigation of the PMA Group and its ties to senior appropriators. Flake steadily peeled off Democrats in seven successive attempts, piling pressure on Democratic leadership to confront the Murtha controversy.
After recapturing the majority, Democrats re-elected Pelosi their leader, placing her in line to become the first female Speaker. In that same huddle, they pick Hoyer over Murtha for Majority Leader, despite Pelosi’s endorsement of her longtime friend from Pennsylvania.
Murtha, a military hawk, stuns colleagues by calling for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. The flip put him in line with Pelosi and helped her build support for an anti-war stance heading into the midterm elections.
Pelosi edges Rep. Steny Hoyer (Md.) for the House Democrats’ No. 2 slot after a protracted campaign that Murtha managed for her. The victory sets up later wins in her Minority Leader and Speaker bids, also captained by Murtha.
Pelosi’s bond with Murtha deepens as they team up to transform a San Francisco army base into a national park and to secure Pentagon funding for breast cancer research.
Six months into her tenure, Pelosi votes with Murtha and only 65 other lawmakers against an ethics reprimand of a Murtha ally from the Keystone State. The move caught Murtha’s attention, setting the stage for a key alliance between the lawmakers.
At age 47, Nancy Pelosi wins her own special election to represent San Francisco.
At age 41, John Murtha wins a special election for his western Pennsylvania district.

