Race for San Francisco seat a test of Pelosis influence

San Francisco has not had a real brawl over its lone House seat since Nancy Pelosi grabbed it in 1987.Thirty-nine years of coronations end on November 3.The slugfest to replace Pelosi is not Democrat-versus-Republican.

It is Democrat-versus-Democrat: State Sen.Scott Wiener versus San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan.These are two liberals who would vote identically on Trump, immigrants and queer rights, and who despise each other over construction cranes, parking spaces and building permits.

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Last June’s primary sorted the field with the subtlety of a club bouncer.Wiener swaggered in at 41%.

Chan, buoyed by a late Pelosi nod, grabbed 30.Saikat Chakrabarti, a self-funding centimillionaire who helped elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2018, face-planted at 18%.

He then converted his campaign into a PAC and shipped 200 canvassers to Chan’s side.Both candidates treat affordability as the city’s five-alarm fire.They have different approaches to the crisis.Wiener spent a decade in Sacramento gutting local control over zoning in an effort to expand housing supply.

Chan has stood with residents against high-rise towers, and prefers to champion subsidized housing and tenants’ rights.He brands her an obstructionist.She brands him a creature of developers and billionaires.

Naturally, Pelosi could not resist playing kingmaker.After she backed Chan, Sen.

Adam Schiff and a thicket of local politicians and unions fell in line.Chan still trails Wiener in cash.She does not trail him in institutions.Wiener opened an exploratory committee in 2023 while Pelosi still held the seat, then announced in October 2025 thta he would run whether she stayed in it or not — smack in the middle of the Prop.

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