I don't know who Pelosi wants to succeed her but I'm certain that Steny Hoyer is one of the last people she wants replacing her- and the fact that he's still sitting in the number two spot is probably one of the biggest reasons she's still holding on.
The two have had an intense rivalry for quite some time. On October 10th, 2001,
Pelosi was elected Minority Whip over Hoyer after an intense campaign that ended in a close vote of 118 to 95. At the end of that term, Minority Leader Gephardt resigned, and Pelosi was easily promoted to fill his place-- and Hoyer took her spot as Minority Whip. So then, in 2006, the Democrats took Congress and Pelosi was easily elevated to the Speakership. However, she took huge steps to prevent Hoyer from stepping up alongside her- Jack Murtha challenged Hoyer for Majority Leader, and Pelosi took the unprecedented step of
actively campaigning for Murtha in order to prevent Hoyer's win. Hoyer won, though, 149 votes to 86.
In 2010, the Democrats lost their majority and Pelosi was bumped down from Speaker to Minority Leader. Hoyer and Clyburn were set
to face a tough election over the Minority Leader spot, but Hoyer quickly got enough support to guarantee his selection. Pelosi devised a plan to keep Clyburn around to counterbalance Hoyer, by creating an ambiguously defined "Assistant Leader" position for Clyburn that is officially third in the leadership hierarchy after Hoyer, but kinda sounds like it's supposed to be the second in command.
Honestly for the past decade pretty much every single election within the House Democratic Caucus is a battle between Pelosi's people and Hoyer's people.
They squabble over ranking member selections and she
blocks Hoyer allies from advancement every chance she gets.
Some they they've hated each other since the 1960's when they were both interns in the same Senator's office at the same time. Maybe the bitterness just started in that intense 2001 election that's allowed Pelosi to be exactly one step ahead of Hoyer ever since. They're basically the Rudd and Gillard of the United States except our Gillard has a stronger hold on power. I wouldn't be surprised if she's literally just trying to wait out Hoyer and retire after he does.
