SAN FRANCISCO -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in her first public appearance since the attack on her husband, rallied grassroots activists Friday, saying the midterm elections for control of Congress are a fight for democracy and "very winnable."
"People say to me, 'What can I do to make you feel better?' I say: 'Vote!'" Pelosi told those on the call.
Her voice cracked at times as she said of her husband's recovery, "It's going to be a long haul."
Pelosi thanked those on a video call for the outpouring of support for Paul Pelosi, 82, who suffered a fractured skull and other injuries after an intruder broke into their San Francisco home last week and bludgeoned him with a hammer in what authorities say was an intentional and political attack.
The Democratic leader spoke from California, where her husband was released from the hospital late Thursday.
"What we are doing is not only to win an election, but this is to strengthen our democracy," Pelosi said early Friday. "There is no question that our democracy is on the ballot."
David DePape, 42, is being held without bail on state charges of attempted murder, burglary and elder abuse. DePape's public defender, Adam Lipson, entered an innocent plea on his behalf earlier this week and has pledged to vigorously defend him. Lipson declined to comment Friday.
At a hearing Friday, a San Francisco judge disclosed that she had worked with the speaker's daughter in the 1990s, giving prosecutors and the public defender's office the opportunity to object to her role in the case.
Judge Loretta Giorgi said she and Christine Pelosi had worked together in the San Francisco city attorney's office in the 1990s but had not interacted in years. Christine, active in California and national Democratic politics, is one of the Pelosis' five adult children and has never held elected office.
No one objected during Friday's hearing to Giorgi's ties to the Pelosi family but either side could in the future and San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said the case might be heard by another judge regardless. The public defender's office did not immediately have a comment.
"I have disclosed to counsel the interactions that I had when she and I were together. I haven't seen or heard or talked to Ms. Pelosi after she left the office. I do see her here today," Giorgi told the court.
Information for this article was contributed by Stefanie Dazio, Elliot Spagat and Kathleen Ronayne of The Associated Press.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is escorted to a vehicle outside of her and husband Paul Pelosi's home in San Francisco, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
FILE - David DePape is shown in Berkeley, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 13, 2013. A federal official says that DePape, a Canadian man accused of breaking into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco home and attacking her husband with a hammer should have been flagged by immigration officials and denied re-entry to the U.S. after overstaying his authorized entry more than two decades ago. (Michael Short/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, File)
Officials wait outside the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, in San Francisco, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
FILE - Christine Pelosi walks to the dais to speak before an Assembly subcommittee in Sacramento, Calif., on Nov. 28, 2017. A San Francisco judge disclosed Friday, Nov. 4, 2022, that she had worked with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's daughter, Christine Pelosi, in the 1990s, giving prosecutors and the public defender's office the opportunity to object to her role in the case against a man who is accused of breaking into the Pelosi home, beating her husband and seeking to kidnap the speaker. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, middle, is escorted to a vehicle outside of her and husband Paul Pelosi's home in San Francisco, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins speaks with reporters following a court hearing for David DePape, the man accused of attacking the husband of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in San Francisco, Friday, Nov. 4, 2022. A San Francisco judge disclosed Friday that she had worked with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's daughter in the 1990s, giving prosecutors and the public defender's office the opportunity to object to her role in the case. Jenkins said the case might be heard by another judge regardless of the disclosure. (AP Photo/Olga Rodriguez)
FILE - David DePape, right, records the nude wedding of Gypsy Taub outside City Hall on Dec. 19, 2013, in San Francisco. A federal official says that DePape, a Canadian man accused of breaking into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco home and attacking her husband with a hammer, should have been flagged by immigration officials and denied re-entry to the U.S. after overstaying his authorized entry more than two decades ago. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg,File)