Tonight, political wonks will all be waiting to see the results of the off-off-year election come rolling in. There will be big races and small to keep track of, and much will be made of any demographic shifts in voting patterns. But there is also another thing Democrats will be waiting to hear, which is the political future of (as she is called now) Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. The rumor mill is expecting an announcement from Pelosi on whether she will be running for re-election next year to her House seat, or whether she will be retiring from politics and passing the torch to someone younger to take over.

What is largely driving this is Pelosi's age. She is currently 85 years old, and will turn 86 next March. That means if she does run for another term, she will be 88 by the end of it. At the start of 2023, Pelosi stepped down from her leadership role in the House after Democrats lost their majority in the 2022 election. She has been a "backbencher" ever since. So she's already serving in a diminished role, after leading the Democrats in the House for 20 full years (as both minority leader and speaker, depending on who controlled the chamber).

Pelosi hasn't said publicly what her plans are, but she did let it be known that she would be making some sort of announcement after today's election. She helped Governor Gavin Newsom's effort to pass Proposition 50 (to redistrict the state in order to add five Democratic House seats), but that effort concludes today.

It is hard to overstate Nancy Pelosi's importance and stature in the House of Representatives. Before she was elected minority leader in 2003, House Democrats were an awfully fractious bunch. Republicans regularly split the party with wedge issues and drew many Democrats across the aisle on important votes. Pelosi turned all of that around, in impressive fashion. Under her leadership, Democrats began sticking together a lot more, and as a result they became much more powerful and effective. Pelosi has already entered House history as one of the most powerful speakers of the modern age. She went toe-to-toe with presidents of both parties and her fellow Democrats backed her up to a remarkable degree.

It is hard to walk away from all that power, obviously. But Pelosi has largely already done so, by removing herself from the Democratic leadership ranks. She has not (as some had feared) tried to overshadow Hakeem Jeffries, who succeeded her as the top House Democrat. She has given him advice when he's asked for it, but she hasn't tried to be some sort of behind-the-scenes puppetmaster, no matter how tempting it might have been to do so. She should be commended for this.

Nancy Pelosi's list of accomplishments is a long and impressive one. But the people of her district (San Francisco) are going to have to be represented by someone else sooner or later, so the speculation now is whether Pelosi will use the victory of Proposition 50 as her political swansong, and announce she will not be running for re-election next year.

Some Democrats have speculated on this to the press, but anonymously. Nobody wants to be seen as pushing Pelosi out, obviously. An unnamed "Democratic leadership aide" recently told NBC: "I think she's preparing to exit the stage. We will not fully appreciate the time we have spent with her until she's gone."

Pelosi herself was instrumental in convincing President Joe Biden to forgo his re-election campaign (after his disastrous debate performance). Pelosi is still sharp as a tack -- just this week she ripped into Donald Trump, calling him "just a vile creature, the worst thing on the face of the Earth." She obviously hasn't lost her edge.

Even so, she is 85 years old.

Pelosi already faces two Democratic challengers for her seat, a state senator from San Francisco (Scott Wiener) and a tech millionaire who used to be Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff (Saikat Chakrabarti). Both are decades younger than Pelosi.

I have always wondered whether Pelosi will attempt to keep the seat in the family, however. Her daughter Christine is a rising power in the Democratic Party. Christine has served on the Democratic National Committee and was a member of the Electoral College in the 2016 election. She has never held elected office before, but the power of seeing the name "Pelosi" on the ballot in San Francisco should not be discounted.

Whether Nancy Pelosi's seat turns into a dynastic one or not, though, it seems like a very good time for her to hang up her spurs. Even if the Democrats do manage to win back control of the House in next year's midterms, Pelosi won't be in a leadership role in the new Congress. And she could show leadership by voluntarily stepping aside for a younger Democrat to take her place, which would be in keeping with her convincing Biden to drop out of his race.

The Democratic Party seems eager for younger, fresher faces these days. Pelosi could probably stay in office until she dies (as Senator Dianne Feinstein, another San Francisco Democrat, did), but what message would that send to the party and to younger voters? She's already proved everything she needed to prove in politics, and as mentioned she will go down in history as one of the best and most effective speakers the House has ever seen. Nancy Pelosi has earned her laurels. Tonight, we may find out whether she intends to step back and rest on them or not.

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant