Nancy Pelosi has endorsed her preferred successor: The speaker emerita said Monday afternoon that Connie Chan — the District 1 supervisor who is in a heated race to become San Francisco’s next House representative — would be best suited for the job.
“I know and love this district, I know the Congress, and I know Connie. I’m proud to endorse Democrat Connie Chan and ask you to join me in electing her to Congress,” Pelosi said in an endorsement video, sitting next to Chan in front of a backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge.
“Connie Chan is the leader best prepared to carry forward the fight for San Francisco in the Congress of the United States,” Pelosi continues, according to a transcript for a fuller video to be released Tuesday, which was shared with reporters.
Pelosi’s pick was much-anticipated — and critical for Chan. She is in a tight contest: State Sen. Scott Wiener is almost guaranteed to come in the No. 1 slot in the June 2 primary and has the name recognition and money to potentially cruise to a victory in November.
Saikat Chakrabarti, Chan’s other rival, is an upstart progressive whose personal coffers — he is worth more than $100 million and has been spending handsomely on his campaign — make him dangerous to both Chan and Wiener.
But he is a more pressing concern for Chan, who must beat Chakrabarti for the No. 2 slot in June in order to advance to November’s general election. The two campaigns are neck and neck, according to recent polls, and their followers are often at each other’s throats.
The imprimatur of San Francisco’s 39-year congresswoman may well turn the tides.
“It’s a real shot in the arm for Connie’s campaign, and it comes at a very crucial time,” said Jim Stearns, a progressive political consultant. Of the 470,621 ballots that have been mailed out in the congressional district, just 22,663 have been returned — a little less than 5 percent.
Many are still weighing their choice, and the timing, Stearns said, is perfect. “If you endorsed six months ago, it’s old news. But you endorse now, it’s big news.”
“It is going to carry more weight than any other endorsement that [Pelosi] can ever make,” added another longtime political strategist.
Chan’s campaign said it is ready to make use of the endorsement: Spokesperson Julie Edwards said she will make sure every voter they speak to knows Chan is Pelosi’s pick.
“Our campaign has been feeling the momentum for the last few weeks,” said Edwards, who has been busy fielding media inquiries.
“We wanna make sure every person voting in San Francisco knows Connie is the choice of teachers, nurses, firefighters, working families, and — of course Nancy Pelosi,” she said.
Anand Singh, who is the treasurer of a labor-backed pro-Chan political action committee, said the group will “work overtime everyday between now and the election to make sure we get every last bit we can get out of this.”
Pelosi was unlikely to put her thumb on the scale for either of the other two top contenders.
Her distaste for Chakrabarti is well-known: The two sparred when Chakrabarti was chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; he took aim at her online, saying Pelosi was being “outmaneuvered” by Republicans.
He reportedly helped push the nascent New York congresswoman toward a confrontational stance against her colleagues, including Pelosi.
Chakrabarti then left Ocasio-Cortez’s office a week after a sit-down between his boss and the then-speaker.
“We’ve always known this race would come down to voters, not endorsements,” said Chakrabarti’s campaign spokesperson. “While the other candidates in this race are focused on political insiders, we’ll continue talking directly with voters about the issues that matter most to them.”
And Pelosi is lukewarm toward Wiener: When Wiener announced his run for Pelosi’s seat before she had even announced retirement, it was taken poorly in the speaker emerita’s camp.
Wiener was gracious on Monday, following Pelosi’s announcement. “I have tremendous respect for Speaker Emerita Pelosi and deep gratitude for everything she has done for our city and our country,” Wiener wrote in a statement. “Whoever wins in November will have giant stilettos to fill.”
In a sign of the times, the announcement has had an immediate effect on prediction markets: Chan’s likelihood of advancing to November’s general election was 54.5 percent on Kalshi prior to Monday’s news. Immediately after, it jumped to 71 percent.
Hmm, one thing that Nancy Pelosi always boasted about is that she knows how to count votes. And she is wickedly smart. I’m thinking this move is designed to push Chakrabarti out of the top 2, and that’s all. She does not like the guy, for good reason. And Chan as #2 is good for Wiener as he won’t have to deal with Chakrabarti’s self-funded campaign in November. This smells like a clever tactic to get Wiener into the office.
I love Mission Local – but I wish you wouldn’t normalize prediction market betting sites by citing them in news articles! That’s exactly how they get people to treat gambling as some kind of legitimate news source 🙁
completely agree, prediction markets are not polls.
Jo, I disagree. Long before prediction markets were a thing I used to look at the bookies’ odds in London for an insight into how an election would likely go.
More reliable than opinion polls – follow the money.
Those other guys aren’t it boss. Vote Chan SF
Nancy Pelosi is the arguably the greatest member Congress has ever had, so her word or endorsement is to me as good as gold.
Certainly many among the affluent class– who have wanted the US to pursue its barbarous imperialistic interests with a bit more “polish”– might argue that!
As for the value of Nancy Pelosi’s word, it might be interesting to note that the price of gold has increased about $4,080 per ounce since 1987, the year that she went to Washington.
Although Pelosi was not responsible for a trend that began years earlier under Nixon, that represents a total gain of about 915%.
(While the US National Debt approaches 40 trillion dollars, imperialistic interests make a lot of sense to people whose astronomical wealth depends on asset price inflation, leveraging, share buybacks, mergers and acquisitions, debt securitization, and derivatives.)
I can’t imagine why any politician with genuine concern for the majority of their constituents would want, or accept, Pelosi’s endorsement for anything!
At great economic, social, and moral expense for the majority, Nancy Pelosi has consistently been a driving force for US military aggression across multiple theaters: in Ukraine, in Taiwan, and in her suppression of antiwar opposition.
I’ll have to agree with SFAatty’s comment in this forum. Nancy’s “wicked” plan is to neutralize Chakrabarti and elevate Wiener.
As a working-class gay man nearing 50, I’ve been forced to live with HIV for 26 years with my rapist. Wiener’s SB 239 was framed as progressive, but many sexual assault survivors who aren’t wealthy or connected people were left feeling less protected.
Connie Chan also has my vote.
True! People who possess greater social, financial, or institutional power should face heightened accountability when they use that advantage to harm others or avoid consequences.
I wonder if Wieners announcement was the final nudge to get Nancy to step down. Looked like she was gonna do a DiFi for a while there
An endorsement on the last day to register to vote in an election that’s taking place in two week’s time?
Voting has been underway for two weeks now that the former Speaker has finally endorsed someone. Why did she wait so long? What changed her mind?
Bud —
As noted in the story, only 5 percent of ballots have been returned.
JE
The Pelosis: a non-working family
Yay for Chan! We’ve got enough wieners in congress.
Yay ! A a local who won’t give away local control AND a woman!
Connie would improve America’s image to the World …
This will be big news all over China.
You think Hong Kong won’t be celebrating their daughter ?
And, think of Trump’s response.
He and Nancy are cut from the same cloth of very successful parents and hers were a social cut above his.
I don’t remember him ripping her like he does most women.
Now, with ICE raids all over and the path to citizenship in abeyance for millions, I’m wondering if there is a single first generation/DACA om Congress who has actually been through this experience ?
Will Trump try to deport her ?
Immigrants all over America who haven’t elected representatives in areas they dominate due to gerrymandering and the like will take heart.
congrats to Connie
go Niners !!
h.
What a joke. Pelosi endorses the candidate who didn’t challenge her in Congress or announce a run before she retired. At least she’s consistent. Petty and self interested to the very end.