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It was a \u201cNancy Pelosi-palooza\u201d in San Francisco over the weekend, as thousands of California Democrats gathered<\/a> in her beloved city by the bay, a place the former speaker of the House has represented in Congress for nearly four decades. They were there to attend the state party\u2019s annual convention \u2013 but with Pelosi retiring at the end of her term, it was also a days-long celebration of a woman many Democrats regard as a living legend.<\/p>\n A video salute during the general session charted her rise from a stay-at-home mom to the US House of Representatives, where she shattered the marble ceiling and became the first \u2013 and to this day only \u2013 woman to wield the speaker\u2019s gavel. Tote bags were emblazoned with her silhouette in every color of the rainbow \u2013 a nod to her trailblazing advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community. It also included one of her favorite aphorisms: \u201cWe don\u2019t agonize, we organize.\u201d<\/p>\n In her own remarks at the convention, the 85-year-old offered little reflection on her career. Instead, Pelosi, whom her longtime political ally Senator Adam Schiff described as being \u201calmost allergic to recognition\u201d, was characteristically focused on the future of the party she helped build and lead.<\/p>\n She expressed \u201cabsolute certainty and confidence\u201d that Democrats would capture the House majority in November \u2013 propelled by California\u2019s new congressional maps that she helped deliver in a resounding victory last fall \u2013 and that her successor, Hakeem Jeffries, would become the next speaker of the House.<\/p>\n \u201cTrump\u2019s reign of terror must end,\u201d she declared.<\/p>\n Over dinner and fine California wine on Saturday evening, a slate of prominent Golden state Democrats<\/a>, including the revered labor leader and civil rights activist, 95-year-old Dolores Huerta, praised Pelosi her success in twisting Republican arms into submission and going \u201ctoe-to-toe\u201d with presidents and world leaders. Schiff quoted one of Pelosi\u2019s staffers who said the former speaker was both doting and fearless, a grandmother who didn\u2019t hesitate to put \u201cher four-inch Manolos up Putin\u2019s ass\u201d.<\/p>\n They took turns recalling Pelosi\u2019s \u201ciron-fist-in-a-velvet-glove\u201d leadership, her witticisms and her tenacity as well as her well-documented love of dark chocolate and a seemingly preternatural need for extremely little sleep. She was hailed by colleagues, mentees and fellow Democrats as the most consequential speaker in modern history \u2013 the Baltimore-born pride of San Francisco.<\/p>\n Pelosi announced her decision to retire late last year, saying her 20th term would be her last. Three Democrats are vying for the chance to succeed Pelosi \u2013 but certainly not to replace, as locals distinguish, arguing that wouldn\u2019t be possible.<\/p>\n The Democrats running for her seat are state senator Scott Wiener, city supervisor Connie Chan and former Silicon Valley engineer Saikat Chakrabarti. During the convention, Wiener won the state party\u2019s endorsement, but Pelosi has not weighed in.<\/p>\n In San Francisco on Saturday, California Democrats also lauded her for transforming the state into a bastion of blue, first as a state party chair and then later as a congresswoman and speaker. Under California\u2019s new redistricting law which she helped champion, Democrats are poised to hold as many as 48 of the state\u2019s 52 House seats.<\/p>\n Several speakers shared memorable advice Pelosi had offered over the years, and reveled in her viral clapbacks. A crowd favorite was her maxim that in politics, you must be able to take a punch and throw a punch, \u201cbut always for the children\u201d, the California congressman Pete Aguilar said.<\/p>\n Rusty Hicks, chair of the California state party, said he had asked Pelosi, a sports fan, if there were any lessons from \u201csideline coaching\u201d she applied to politics. In basketball, she said: \u201cWhen in doubt, shoot \u2013 and always be in doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis recalled her favorite \u201cPelosi-ism\u201d. Now Pelosi prefers to say \u201cknow your power,\u201d but originally Kounalakis said Pelosi would exhort: \u201cknow thy power\u201d as if it were the \u201c11th commandment\u201d.<\/p>\n Kounalakis hailed Pelosi for transforming the political landscape for women \u2013 working to not only expand the number of female lawmakers on Capitol Hill, but their power and rank as well. There were only 23 women <\/a>in Congress when Pelosi was first elected in 1987. Now there are 150<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the final, emotional tribute of the evening, Schiff praised Pelosi as a peerless leader with a rare talent for persuading \u201cpeople to do the right thing at the right time and for the right reason\u201d.<\/p>\n