This is part of a series of interviews with front-runners in the race to succeed Nancy Pelosi as the representative for California’s 11th Congressional District. Read about the candidates’ views on foreign policy here and tech here.
The three front-runners vying to represent San Francisco as Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s successor in Congress are no strangers to politics: Two have spent years in local and state offices, while the third helped build national progressive campaigns before deciding to be a candidate himself.
But, if elected, how would they actually do the job?
How would they approach disagreements with party leaders or major donors? Would they build alliances across the aisle? As freshman members, how would they look out for San Francisco?
Like Pelosi, who recently endorsed Connie Chan, the Richmond District supervisor said she believes that “dialogue is the most important tool of any elected official.”
In contrast, tech centimillionaire and former Capitol Hill staffer Saikat Chakrabarti, who polling shows as neck and neck with Chan for second place in the June primary, said he believes that support, organizing and pressure outside Congress would be his most important levers as a new member.
State Sen. Scott Wiener, who is leading in the polls, emphasized the importance of pragmatism. To Wiener, a successful politician “shouldn’t be a purist” or avoid controversial political tactics. As long as “you’re getting the bulk of what you wanted and it’s making people’s lives better,” he’s for it.
Given the proximity of the primary election, Mission Local accepted a phone interview with Wiener and written responses from Chakrabarti and Chan for this Q&A. Their answers have been edited for brevity and clarity. Candidates are arranged in alphabetical order.
How would you run your congressional office? What kind of staff would you hire, and what would you prioritize: policy expertise, constituent services, communications, or something else?
Chakrabarti: Constituent services will be my first priority. If you have a spouse detained by ICE or you don’t receive a Social Security check, your congressperson can fight on your behalf and get real results. With this administration attacking immigrants and gutting federal services, this is the most important job for a congressperson from San Francisco. I helped Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez build her constituent services office in 2019, during Trump’s first term. Because we made it a priority, we unstuck citizenship applications, got people the Social Security checks they were owed, and brought in $470 million in federal grants to the district in her first term alone.
In Washington, I plan to operate differently than most members. The standard playbook is to land in D.C., grab a committee seat, dial for dollars, and say yes to leadership. I’m not going to do that. We have potential for real change in DC, but achieving it requires inside coalition building combined with outside organizing and national media pressure.
I’ll use every procedural tool available to force votes on popular policies and every point of leverage against the Trump administration — even when Democratic leadership won’t, especially when they won’t. Most offices delegate that expertise to leadership. I’ll have it on my own staff.
Chan: I’d run my congressional office just like I run my City Hall office — I’m hands-on and accessible, a policy wonk with practical solutions, with a strong focus on constituent services. It’s what I have right now and what I would strive to maintain — a balance of smart, committed people who love the work they do and the city and people they do it for.
Wiener: You just have to look at my state senate office to see what my approach is. We have an amazing team of people who work all day, every day to go above and beyond to get people the help they need or get them connected to someone who can help them.
I tell my staff that: When someone calls, they probably reach the end of their rope, and it’s probably the first and last time they’ll ever call an elected official. They’ve been trying to navigate the bureaucracy, it’s not working. So we need to go to the mat for them. Most people are not calling elected officials all the time. They may only do it once, and if they have a good experience, they’ll remember that forever. And if they have a bad experience, they’ll remember it forever.
In the state senate, and this will be true in Congress, I have a very, very strong policy team. I do very aggressive legislation around housing, health care, clean energy, civil rights, criminal justice reform and so forth. My name is on each of these bills, but none of this happens without strong policy staff.
Communications is also very important to me. You know what they say about if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it. We want people to know what we’re working on, and they can agree or disagree. I believe in transparency.
If elected, which two House committees would you fight hardest to join, and what specific outcomes would you try to deliver from those seats in your first term?
Chakrabarti: I would push to join Appropriations or Energy and Commerce.
On Appropriations, I’ll request the maximum Community Project Funding for San Francisco each year for transit, affordable housing, homelessness services, and community health centers. I’ll fight for seats on the Transportation-HUD and Labor-HHS subcommittees to protect The Portal’s federal funding, defend NIH funding for UCSF, shield HUD homelessness fundings, and push Army Corps funding for the Embarcadero seawall.
Energy and Commerce oversees healthcare, energy, tech, environmental policy, among other areas. With Trump still in office, my first-term strategy will be to take broadly popular issues — expanding Medicare’s drug price negotiation, capping insulin costs, regulating Big Tech — and force votes, capturing national attention and working with outside organizers to win.
I’ll also hold hearings: pressuring the Navy to fully clean up Hunters Point Shipyards, and holding PG&E and AI companies accountable. These hearings build the record for action Democrats can take if we retake Congress and the White House.
Finally, I will also work to turn my expansive AI platform and the Mission for America, a comprehensive plan for building a clean economy that works for all, into real legislation. 2028 will be our New Deal moment. A core goal of my first term is shaping the political landscape for that election so we can enact the transformative agenda needed to end the cost of living crisis in San Francisco. That will happen through committee work to shape the ideas, continued movement-building to shape the outside pressure, and continued recruiting of congressional candidates to create a Democratic Party that will enact this agenda.
Chan: I’m focused on this campaign right now but my policy priorities include making healthcare more affordable, expanding education opportunities, reforming our broken immigration system and creating good-paying jobs, I know no matter what committee I would be on, it is critical to build relationships and whip the votes to deliver for San Franciscans.
At this moment, the No. 1 goal has got to be holding Donald Trump accountable — we cannot begin to clean up that mess until we investigate and hold accountable Trump and the people who aided him. That includes re-affirming Congress’ oversight powers and authority, which House and Senate Republicans have totally abandoned.
Wiener: Financial Services and Energy and Commerce.
Housing is of top, top priority for me of course, and housing is in the Financial Services Committee. Transportation and Infrastructure. Energy and Commerce. Modernizing our grid, electrifying everything, moving away from fossil fuels is a huge priority for me. Appropriations, which is a tough one. These are all tough committees. The last one I’ll say is the Science, Space and Technology Committee, because we do a lot of work on science funding.
The first term is hard because Trump will still be president. I detailed housing and transportation platforms on my website. On transportation, we have a whole bunch of ideas. We need more transit and more stable funding for transit in more parts of the country, including a national high-speed rail network, but also for local and regional transit systems. We also need to update a lot of federal transportation laws, which heavily favor highways. There are various federal design standards that are not the best for pedestrian and bike improvements. We should be ensuring that states have flexibility to use highway funding for public transportation.
What’s your plan in your first 100 days to build influence in Congress? Who are the first five people you’d try to build ties with, and why?
Chakrabarti: I’m already working to build ties with dozens of insurgent candidates running across the country. We need to completely change the direction and leadership of the Democratic Party, and that means organizing others who feel the same. Nearly 100 Democratic candidates say, off-the-record, that they don’t support current leadership, and the party continues to poll at historic lows. My plan is to organize that sentiment into a real caucus that can change the party in 2026.
In Congress, the first five people I’d build deep ties with:
Rep. Greg Casar, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. A strong CPC is essential to changing the party’s direction.
Rep. Ro Khanna, who takes no corporate money, has built credibility on anti-corruption and foreign policy, and has shown a willingness to work with Republicans like Rep. Massie on shared issues.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, who has deep procedural and legal expertise in the caucus and heads the judiciary committee. If Democrats retake the House in 2026, his knowledge will be essential to holding Trump, ICE, and the Supreme Court accountable.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, my former boss and one of the few members who has shown how a single legislator can shift the entire political landscape. We already have a working relationship.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Senate’s most effective champion for the legislation I want to advance like Medicare for All, a wealth tax on the ultra-rich, and ending the corrupting influence of corporate money in politics.
I’d also work closely with representatives like Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Summer Lee, and Delia Ramirez, and senators like Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen, and Sheldon Whitehouse.
Chan: I’m honored to be endorsed by ASPIRE PAC and Elect Democratic Women — the campaign arms of the Congressional API Caucus and House Democratic women, so of course, these groups would be among the first I connect with in DC. It’s important to build strong ties with other members of the California delegation as we need to stand together to advocate for our state.
Sen. Adam Schiff and Congresswoman Judy Chu have been advisors to me and would be some of my first calls. I am eager to be part of the California delegation to work to fight for federal resources and support for San Francisco and California.
Wiener: Depending on what committee I’m on, really establishing deep relationships with the chair of the committee. A number of these issues are bipartisan. Housing is bipartisan. Transit can be bipartisan. Knowing your colleagues on that committee, both Democrat and Republican, meeting with them, and figuring out what are their priorities.
What I have found in the state senate is I’ve been able to find common ground with a range of colleagues, including Republicans, including much more moderate Democrats from other parts of the state. That’s why I’ve been able to get bipartisan support for all of my major housing bills or mental health bills, etc.
There are more and more members of Congress who are interested in housing, permitting reform. Then also really establishing deep relationships with the key advocacy organizations. If I have an idea in a particular area, I know who are the five advocates to call to say, “Hey, what do you think? Do you have any feedback?” That’s how you build the outside coalitions.
As a freshman with little formal power, how do you actually plan to get things done? What levers do you think are most effective for a new member?
Chakrabarti: First, I’ll use discharge petitions to force votes on popular issues. This tactic works when an issue has broad bipartisan support among voters. To succeed, you have to capture national attention and work with outside organizers to create pressure that forces the petition’s release. That’s exactly what Reps. Khanna and Massie did to force a vote on releasing the Epstein Files: the Republican caucus opposed it, but by winning the battle of public opinion, they broke that opposition.
I’ll do the same on anti-corruption and foreign policy issues with broad bipartisan support — banning congressional stock trading, banning the revolving door between Congress and lobbying, and cutting spending on endless wars and genocides. This tactic upsets leadership because it goes around their power, but I’m willing to take that risk.
Second, I’ll use my position to organize, not just legislate. Right now, Trump is going after universities, law firms, and media companies one at a time, and individually they cave. I’ll work to organize them into collective blocs that can resist. Lawyers doing this work have told me a Congressperson’s help would absolutely matter.
Third, I’ll use congressional oversight to hold the administration accountable. When I worked in Congress, our hearings were used to hold Trump accountable then. Our questioning of Michael Cohen helped set up the legal basis AG James used to successfully pursue fraud in Trump’s businesses.
Forcing votes, organizing power, and using oversight give a freshman more influence than the standard playbook of waiting for seniority.
Chan: I’ve been able to be an effective Budget Committee Chair because I’ve worked with stakeholders across the political spectrum but centered my values in the best interest of the working people in San Francisco. I am the only candidate endorsed by nurses, teachers, firefighters and the San Francisco Labor Council, because they know I may be a new member but I will work to leverage our coalition to push for Medicare for All, funding for affordable childcare, free community college and fully funded K-12 classrooms.
Wiener: It is about relationships with other members of Congress to build coalitions of members. It’s about identifying the key advocates and advocacy organizations that you can build relationships with, brainstorm ideas and come up with policy proposals that you can introduce.
Third is having the courage to propose aggressive policy solutions that might be really controversial, where you might fall on your face. In the State Senate, that’s one of the reasons that I’ve had the success in passing more than 100 laws.
In 2018, when I introduced the first version of a transit-oriented development bill to say there should be denser housing near public transportation, that was considered so radical. It was brought up in every governor’s debate and every mayoral debate. I was told by people I would lose reelection because of it. I just pursued it. Then last year we got it passed and signed into law. In 2018, it was considered this radical, crazy idea that Scott Wiener introduced, and now people are like “Of course we should be building more housing near transit.”
Name one Republican member or a type of Republican you think you could realistically work with. What would you work on together, and how would you approach that relationship?
Chakrabarti: I will work with anyone on any issue where we agree.
Today, the Republican I see the clearest path with is Rep. Thomas Massie. The biggest openings for bipartisan work are anti-corruption, foreign policy, and reining in Big Tech, which are all issues generating widespread backlash across the country.
My approach to any of these relationships starts simply: reach out, talk about what our districts are facing, and find points of agreement. But in my experience, that isn’t enough. Republicans in Congress would often privately agree with us but refuse to work together.
So my real strategy is to be selective about where I invest. I’ll focus on Republicans who have already shown they’ll buck Trump and their party, or for whom a shared issue is so salient in their district that working with a Democrat is politically survivable. Shared views aren’t enough; I’ll look for the ones with the spine, or the political incentive, to actually act on them.
Chan: It is important to have partnerships with members of the California delegation. There are issues that face our state that are non-partisan like healthcare and education, aid for disasters like wildfire, and labor and workforce issues.
I would work with any Republicans who are willing to fight for working people in their districts and have a track record of opposing those cuts (many of the districts hardest hit by Medicaid cuts are Republican). There are people who are wildly different from me who may share my concerns about housing affordability or breaking corporate monopolies — I would start with common ground and whip the votes to deliver results.
Wiener: There’s a Republican member of congress, Kevin Kiley, who recently became “declined to state” (Kiley switched his party affiliation from Republican to independent), as his district got blown up in redistricting. I don’t know if he’s going to be in congress when I get there because his district got dismantled with Prop. 50, but he was in the state assembly during my time in the state senate. We have huge disagreements on many issues, but on housing, he’s rock solid. He was on one of the committees that hears housing bills in the assembly. He was always like, he got it, he voted the right way, he was helpful. Someone like that who is good on an issue that matters in his community and my community is someone I can work with.
There’s also a guy in Southern California, Jay Obernolte, conservative Republican, we have many disagreements. We have disagreements on technology policy. He’s a tech person. He made quite a bit of money with a gaming company. When he went to congress, we had conversations about AI policy and he checked in with me to get my feedback on ideas. Again, we don’t always agree, but he is a thoughtful person and someone whom I’ll be able to work with.
If house Democratic leadership takes a position you think is wrong for San Francisco, what would you actually do, both behind the scenes and publicly?
Chakrabarti: I will tell Democratic leadership my position, why I hold it, and how I plan to fight them publicly if they don’t move. If they hold their position, I will follow through. That means using every point of leverage available: national media to make the disagreement impossible to ignore, organized constituent pressure in members’ districts, coalition work with outside groups, and even backing primary challengers against Democrats who side with leadership over their constituents. I’ve helped build that last kind of pressure before through my work at Justice Democrats, and it has been the most effective way to get Democrats to move on positions where they are out of step with people.
This is also why building outside power from day one matters so much. A freshman who only plays the inside game has almost no leverage. A freshman who has built a national platform, an organized base, and credible electoral threats has a lot.
San Francisco will always come first. I will never back down from a fight on behalf of this district, no matter who it’s with.
Chan: I have never been afraid to confront leadership when I disagree — you can ask board presidents former and current, Aaron Peskin and Rafael Mandelman, about that. In general, I believe in direct communication and building intellectually honest and respectful relationships. But I will utilize every tool in my toolbox to stand up and continue to be a voice for San Francisco.
Wiener: If house leadership takes a position that harms San Francisco, I’m going to stand with San Francisco, always.
I have gone to the mat to make sure that we’re bringing transit money into the Bay Area for Muni, Bart, Caltrain, AC Transit. At times where it was very lonely for me to do that and I did not have support and I just kept pounding my head against the wall. If you pound your head against the wall long enough, eventually you’re going to break through the wall, and that’s what I was able to do on transit funding. That’s just how I roll.
There are political tactics that are effective but controversial, like negative campaigning, shaping messages in ways that can mislead, or quietly watering down legislation to get it passed. How do you decide when the ends justify the means, and what’s a line you wouldn’t cross, even if it meant losing? Would you still hold that line if your opponent didn’t?
Chakrabarti: My rule is simple: Anything I do, I should be able to explain to any San Franciscan why I did it. That rules out quietly watering down legislation, and it rules out misleading people about what a bill actually does.
I will draw contrasts with my opponents, but I will never lie about them, attack them or their families personally, or intentionally mislead voters, even when opponents do it to me. It is not worth it to me to win a race but lose my integrity.
Chan: My mentor, former Mayor Art Agnos, has taught me, when it comes to civil rights, we fight and we go for broke. But everything else, we work to compromise, and deliver solutions for our communities.
When it comes to our fundamental rights, we have to use every tool available to us because this is about the dignity of our fellow human beings.
Wiener: The bottom line is, for every decision that I make — whether it’s a bill to introduce or how to vote or a public position to take — the only issue that matters is: Is this going to make people’s lives better or is it not going to make people’s lives better?
You can say, if I don’t get 100 percent of what I want, I’m withdrawing the bill, and that means you get nothing. If you’re getting the bulk of what you wanted and it’s making people’s lives better, you shouldn’t be a purist about it.
Now there are some issues that you don’t compromise. For basic civil rights issues, basic constitutional rights issues, basic values about reproductive health access or protecting LGBTQ people, or protecting immigrants.
Even when people come to me — and people have — and say, “Scott, the polling on trans people right now is not very good, and I’m worried that you being so vocal on it is going to hurt you.” To me, polling is not relevant on a civil rights issue. You’re either for civil rights or you’re not.
Describe a situation where a major donor, interest group, or political ally is pushing you in one direction, but you think they’re wrong. How would you handle it?
Chakrabarti: I don’t spend my time calling big donors for money, which means no one has bought a seat at the table, and no one is going to. The people pushing me on policy are constituents, allies, and organizers.
When we launched the Green New Deal, we didn’t have strong support from labor or even environmental groups. I was in charge of building the political coalitions around the Green New Deal, so I talked with everyone. Some had legitimate concerns that made the resolution stronger, and I incorporated them. But other environmental groups thought we were pushing too far, too fast, and wanted us to scale back. I disagreed. I earned their support by proving the momentum was real.
As a member of Congress, I’ll do the same. Hear allies out, adjust when they’re right, and say so directly when I think they’re wrong. But San Franciscans will always come first when I have to make any decision or tradeoff.
Chan: I’ll have a conversation with them and let them know, while we agree on a lot, we don’t agree on this and we’ll have to find common ground another time. Dialogue is the most important tool of any elected official.
Wiener: It’s a test of whether you are a good elected official or not.
For example, the work I’ve done on AI safety: We did two different bills, SB 1047 in 2024 that the governor vetoed, and then SB 53 last year the governor signed. There were a whole bunch of people in the tech sector in San Francisco who had always supported me, who were very, very angry at me for proposing that. Some of them were upset but we moved forward because there were other issues that they liked my work on, like housing, for example. And there are some who no longer support me.
It’s always painful to lose a supporter, especially if it’s someone you respect and care about. But sometimes that’s going to happen because if you’re in office to try to make everyone happy, you should get out of office immediately because, A it’s impossible and B, it means you’re probably never going to do anything because you’re going to operate out of fear of pissing people off. In politics, if you are doing anything, if you are taking stands, if you are actually solving problems, you are going to piss people off, including sometimes people who have supported you and you have to be at peace with that. If you’re not, then elected office is not for you.
In this race, I’ve made very clear that I’m not going to support U.S. funding for the destruction of Palestinian communities. I’m not going to support offensive arm sales, and that I believe that that the Netanyahu government committed genocide in Gaza. It’s been a very painful few months in the Jewish community for me. That is deeply painful. That’s my community. But I said what I believe and I accept the consequences in terms of supporters who no longer support me. And I hope they come back.
What specific restrictions would you place on yourself regarding lobbying or private-sector work after Congress? Why those, and not stricter ones?
Chakrabarti: I pledge to never take a lobbying job or private sector job after my time in Congress. I’ll also commit to never sitting on a corporate board or taking paid speaking fees. After Congress, I plan to continue in public service.
I also support a lifetime lobbying ban for all former members of Congress, which I’ll fight for as a legislator. I worked on legislation for such a ban during my time in Congress. Currently, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Neguse have introduced legislation to do that, and I’ll be a co-sponsor on day one.
Chan: I’m not going to use my time in office for personal gain — never have, never will. I’ve been a lifelong public servant — I won’t become a lobbyist. I imagine I’d probably use my time mentoring and supporting young candidates, particularly those from underrepresented groups.
Wiener: I have no interest in being a lobbyist. That’s not something that I’ve ever wanted to do. We do need stricter rules with the revolving door.
What do you think about Citizens United? Do you think candidates who benefit from large independent spending or personal wealth have an obligation to campaign differently?
Citizens United v. FEC is a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court case that paved the way for the creation of Super PACs, where organizations can spend unlimited amounts of money on political speech, provided they don’t coordinate with the candidates. Critics say the ruling allows money to overshadow the voices of everyday voters.
Chakrabarti: We must pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and move to a fully publicly financed election system, which means no private money in elections at all. Huge majorities of both Democrats and Republicans want this and rank corruption as a top priority. What’s missing is political will. 2028 is our chance to make it happen. Building the political landscape to put ending Citizens United at the center of that election is one of my goals in congress.
I saw it up close in congress. Politicians spent six to eight hours a day dialing for dollars and would refuse to co-sponsor popular bills over fear of upsetting donors. When I worked on the Loan Shark Prevention Act to cap payday loan interest, our polling showed it was wildly popular in every district. Even many Democrats refused to co-sponsor it.
Candidates benefiting from large independent spending have an obligation to be transparent about why those donors are backing them. Candidates with personal wealth should only use it if they agree to be a class traitor. That means advocating for higher taxes on themselves, fighting for workers’ rights and ending the influence of money in our politics.
Chan: It’s obvious that we have uneven playing fields. I mean look at this campaign. You all wrote about it — I’m backed by working people: hotel workers, dishwashers, teachers and nurses. We must know that these are elections, they are not auctions.
We absolutely need to overturn Citizens United and I’d go further and say we should have publicly financed campaigns like we do here in San Francisco. A candidate shouldn’t have to have deep-pocketed donors or a tech fortune to run for Congress.
Wiener: The U.S. Supreme Court for 50 years has interpreted the First Amendment to allow a tidal wave of money from wealthy people and corporations. We need to change the Constitution or change the Supreme Court, and I support expanding the Supreme Court to get rid of these ridiculous rulings. We should overturn Citizens United. We should have smart campaign finance laws.
But it goes beyond Citizens United. It was in the ’70s and the Buckley case that the Supreme Court said that wealthy people have a First Amendment right to provide unlimited self-funding for their campaigns.
We’re seeing that in this race. We need public financing of campaigns.
San Franciscans will have their first chance to weigh in on their next congressperson on June 2. The top two vote-getters in that “jungle primary” will advance to the general election on Nov. 3, regardless of party affiliation.