Pelosi backs Connie Chan in crowded San Francisco congressional race

Nancy Pelosi’s endorsement of Connie Chan sharpened a San Francisco congressional race that has become a referendum on who inherits the city’s most durable Democratic machine. With California’s June 2 top-two primary days away, Chan is trying to break into the top two behind state Sen. Scott Wiener in California’s 11th Congressional District, where Pelosi has held power in one form or another since 1987.

Pelosi’s backing arrived on May 18 and carried the weight of a political era. In her statement, Pelosi said Chan was the candidate best prepared to carry forward San Francisco’s fight in Congress and said Chan “stands above” the rest of the field. For Chan, a San Francisco Board of Supervisors member representing District 1, the endorsement was more than symbolism. It signaled that the city’s old guard still matters in a race where party infrastructure, labor backing and neighborhood ties are competing with money and statewide name recognition.

The contest is also a battle over what kind of Democrat should represent one of the party’s bluest strongholds. Wiener enters with the strongest recognition and the most money available to spend, while Saikat Chakrabarti, the former congressional aide and co-founder of Justice Democrats, has leaned heavily on his own fortune. Chan has taken a different path, building support through endorsements and labor alliances rather than large-scale fundraising.

That strategy has rested on a campaign centered on affordability, tenant protections and housing, issues that sit at the center of San Francisco’s social and public-health struggles. Chan was born in Hong Kong, immigrated to the United States with her mother and younger brother at 13, and later settled in Chinatown. If elected, she would become the first Asian American to represent San Francisco in Congress, a milestone that would resonate in a city where displacement and housing costs have long reshaped immigrant neighborhoods.

Chan has already won endorsements from National Nurses United, the California Teachers Association, the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, the San Francisco Labor Council and SEIU. The California Democratic Party endorsed Wiener in February, underscoring how divided the city’s political establishment has become as Pelosi prepares to exit the stage. Recent polling has shown Wiener leading, with Chan and Chakrabarti fighting for second place, making Pelosi’s choice potentially decisive in a race that is about far more than one seat. It is a contest over whether urban Democratic power in San Francisco will pass through labor-backed local leaders, self-funded insurgents or the heir to Pelosi’s own machine.