Marie Hurabiell wins endorsement from San Francisco immigration attorney

Marie Hurabiell added another visible name to her 2026 run for California’s 11th Congressional District, winning the backing of San Francisco immigration attorney Karina Velasquez. The endorsement puts a Latino community figure behind a candidate already trying to define herself as a pragmatic San Francisco moderate in a contest that could be decided by coalitions, not just partisan labels.

The endorsement matters because CA-11 is now entirely a San Francisco race under the current map, with only a small southeastern slice of the city excluded to balance population. Nancy Pelosi’s retirement after 39 years in the House opened the seat for the first time since 1987, turning what was once a nearly locked-in congressional contest into a test of who can assemble the broadest coalition across the city’s neighborhoods, advocacy networks and ethnic communities.

San Francisco County’s 826,079 residents, estimated as of July 1, 2025, include a Hispanic or Latino population that makes up 16.8 percent of the county, according to Census Bureau QuickFacts. That makes Velasquez’s endorsement more than a campaign photo op. Her practice handles family immigration, asylum, green cards and deportation-related matters in San Francisco, issues that sit close to the daily concerns of Latino families who are weighing not just representation, but access to services and stability.

Hurabiell’s campaign listed Velasquez as an endorser and identified her as an immigration attorney and former president of Stop Crime SF. That pairing reflects the kind of coalition Hurabiell has been building: part public safety, part civic reform, part neighborhood organizing. It also suggests that support from Latino voters may hinge on practical questions, including immigration help, housing costs, small-business security, schools and whether city leadership feels responsive to working families.

Hurabiell, a native San Franciscan and founder and executive director of ConnectedSF, has leaned into a centrist image. Local coverage has described her as a moderate or “pragmatic middle” candidate, and her campaign says she helped lead the recalls of former District Attorney Chesa Boudin and San Francisco school board members while also playing a role in electing Mayor Daniel Lurie. The Chinese American Democratic Club has also endorsed her, underscoring how much the open-seat race is already turning on community-group credibility across San Francisco.