On the homepage of congressional candidate Saikat Chakrabarti’s campaign website there is no criticism of Republicans or President Donald Trump.
Instead, his choice words are for the Democrats: “I’m running for Congress because Democratic Party leaders in D.C. are unfit to lead the world as it is today.”
That’s not because Chakrabarti supports Trump; far from it. It’s because he thinks establishment Democrats are at fault for allowing Trump’s rise and return.
“People want something different,” Chakrabarti told Mission Local, pointing to a March 31 poll that showed that the Democratic Party as an institution polls worse than Trump — 35.3 percent approval for the Democrats, 41.1 percent for Trump.
“I believe the way you win in this moment is not to present something that’s a compromise, it’s to present a different vision of a future that goes bigger.”
His vision is of a Democratic Party that ends funding for wars and weapons, provides healthcare for all Americans, funds free public college, transitions America to clean and renewable energy sources, and more.
But his plan for achieving that is through confrontation: Primarying moderate Democrats, including party leaders; pressuring representatives to hold firm against funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and cuts to Medicaid; and going around House leadership to force votes on “popular” issues, like banning Congressional stock trading (though House Democrats including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are already working on a plan for that).
It’s an aggressive strategy that’s already familiar to many on Capitol Hill. During his tenure as chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, he frequently made national headlines for his scathing criticisms of fellow Democrats.
But Ocasio-Cortez preferred a less confrontational approach and, after eight months, Chakrabarti departed.
“I left AOC’s office at the end of 2019 after ruffling a few too many feathers in D.C,” he told Jacobin Magazine last July.
A former colleague of Chakrabarti, who declined to be identified because his current employer has not authorized him to speak to the press, said that he, Chakrabarti, and other staff members had the “wrong expectations” coming into the job.
“We came in like, ‘We’re here to call people out on their bullshit and burn this place to the ground and be radicals and be flamethrowers and call it like we see it,’” he said. Ocasio-Cortez “had a different strategy that involved not pissing everybody off, her colleagues and leadership, which is entirely reasonable.”
“After a while, it became clear to [communications director] Corbin [Trent] and Saikat that they weren’t going to be able to practice politics the way that they thought they would and the way that they wanted to,” the staffer added. “They sort of gradually made their way out.”
Now Chakrabarti’s hoping to get back to Washington, D.C., this time as the representative himself. He’s using the millions he made in tech in his 20s to self-finance his campaign against State Sen. Scott Wiener and Supervisor Connie Chan. If he makes it to D.C, though, he has no plans to ease up on the Dems.
“I am running to change the Democratic Party,” Chakrabarti said at a recent debate, “and that’s going to ruffle some feathers. If you want someone who’s going to get along to go along, then I’m not your guy.”
Ocasio-Cortez, for her part, has repeatedly declined to endorse her former staffer or even comment on the race.
‘You’re about to blow up your entire political career’
Chakrabarti’s start in politics came in 2015 at the age of 29, when he joined Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. He had just quit his job as one of the first engineers at the financial-technology company Stripe after becoming disillusioned with tech.
Chakrabarti and some of his Bernie colleagues soon realized, though, that Sanders’ platform would need allies in Congress. So they founded Justice Democrats to replace moderate and corporate-aligned Democrats with progressives, and in 2018 recruited candidates across the country to primary Democrats.
Justice Democrats soon concentrated resources on one: Ocasio-Cortez. Chakrabarti became her campaign manager, and she won 57-43, beating Joe Crowley, one of the most powerful congressional Democrats at the time.
When Ocasio-Cortez arrived in Washington later that year — with Chakrabarti working as her chief of staff — she cemented her reputation as a political firebrand before she was even sworn in. Ocasio-Cortez walked into Pelosi’s office to join a climate-change protest arranged by the Sunrise Movement, which had been organizing for years.
“As a member, I want to thank you all because you are giving us as a party the strength to push,” she said, standing in the center of Pelosi’s office surrounded by a ring of seated protesters holding bright yellow signs.
It is the kind of action Chakrabarti hopes to emulate if he’s elected. As he sees it, a direct line can be drawn between Ocasio-Cortez calling for a Green New Deal at that protest and the climate provisions in Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act in 2022.
“It made a huge difference, because that’s what blew it up in the media,” he said. From there, Ocasio-Cortez introduced the Green New Deal, which influenced the climate policies of candidates in the 2020 primary, he said.
But joining the sit-in came with risks.
“Everyone was telling her, ‘you’re about to blow up your entire political career by doing this,’” Chakrabarti said.
And indeed, the protest did not earn Ocasio-Cortez any fans in Pelosi’s office, who felt that they had already agreed to protesters’ main demand: creating a congressional climate-change committee.
“Showing up at a Pelosi protest, it was not thought out,” said Drew Hammill, who was Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff at the time.
‘Who is this guy?’ the Democratic caucus demanded
As Ocasio-Cortez settled into her new role, Chakrabarti and her other staffers kept up the aggression. Chakrabarti himself made a habit of firing off provocative tweets about other Democrats.
That included attacking the Blue Dogs, a moderate Democratic caucus, which backed a bill providing $4.6 billion in emergency humanitarian aid to the U.S.-Mexico border — but without provisions that other Democrats wanted, including reducing funding for ICE and requiring the administration to provide a higher standard of care in detention centers housing migrant children at the border.
“Instead of ‘fiscally conservative but socially liberal,’ let’s call the New Democrats and Blue Dog Caucus the ‘New Southern Democrats,’” Chakrabarti tweeted. “They certainly seem hell bent to do to black and brown people today what the old Southern Democrats did in the ’40s.”
He deleted that tweet within an hour, but soon followed up with others that were no less provocative.
“Can we stop calling the Blue Dog Caucus ‘fiscally conservative but socially liberal?’ I missed the part of fiscal conservativeness or social liberalness that includes wasting $4.5 billion of taxpayer money to put kids in concentration camps,” he tweeted, calling out Sharice Davids, a Native American congressperson from Kansas.
“You can be someone who does not personally harbor ill will towards a race, but through your actions still enable a racist system. And a lot of New Democrats and Blue Dogs did that today.”
“Who is this guy and why is he explicitly singling out a Native American woman of color?” the official Twitter account of the House Democratic Caucus replied.
Meanwhile, Chakrabarti also had a few choice words about Pelosi. “All these articles want to claim what a legislative mastermind Pelosi is, but I’m seeing way more strategic smarts from freshman members like @AOC, @IlhanMN, @RashidaTlai and @AyannaPressley,” Chakrabarti tweeted July 6.
“Pelosi is just mad that she got outmaneuvered (again) by Republicans.”
Chakrabarti’s tweets set off turmoil within the Democratic caucus that went on for weeks — with some calling for Chakrabarti’s firing, according to Politico reporting from the time.
Chakrabarti stands by those tweets. But to Hammill, they were counterproductive.
“If you’re just pissing on people who are on the same side of the aisle as you, you’re not going to get support in committee, on the floor,” he said. “You’re going to make your own political grandstanding a liability for your constituents.”
Infuriating other Democrats, Hammill added, could make it hard to get desired committee assignments. And as bills work their way through committee, those Democrats — plus their allies — may be reluctant to entertain amendments or funding requests.
Chakrabarti, for his part, thinks that many will be grateful that he is willing to be the one to stick his neck out.
“They’re excited to see somebody take the first step,” he said.
A true believer
Ocasio-Cortez eventually decided that a confrontational approach on every issue was not what she wanted.
She and another representative were all set to oppose a 2019 bill favored by Intuit and TurboTax that included a clause preventing the IRS from creating free tax-filing software, for example, until they realized that Rep. John Lewis, the civil rights icon, was the bill’s sponsor.
“They kind of realized that they were going to have to stand up and debate John Lewis and object to his bill and accuse John Lewis of carrying water for H&R Block and TurboTax,” the former staffer said. “They both just kind of were like, ‘I don’t want to do that.’”
If Chakrabarti makes it back to Congress, though, people who worked alongside him think that he would stick to the confrontational approach. Several called him a “true believer.”
Chakrabarti, for his part, said he would have handled that tax bill differently. His plan, he said, would be to incite public outrage to counter the companies’ lobbying efforts.
“Create pressure on the outside, actually get people to notice this and then get that amendment out” would be the plan, he said.
That confrontational approach has its pitfalls, warned Peter Loge, a longtime congressional staffer and associate professor at George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs.
“If you want to win a primary, especially a crowded primary in a liberal area, you want to sound as liberal and righteous as you can,” he said. “But once you get to Congress, self-righteousness doesn’t tend to get you very far.”
“What he will do is demonstrate he’s somebody the Democrats can’t rely on and the Republicans can’t trust,” Loge said. “Because he’s the one who’s always shouting into the wind.”
The equation could change, Loge said, if Chakrabarti can build a coalition. “The power that he could have is, if there are enough members of Congress who agree on an issue to hold something up that matters,” Loge said.
Loge pointed to the Freedom Caucus, a group of far-right Republicans who have forced their way on a number of issues, including the removal of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House.
Chakrabarti has been working on just that. One of his big lessons from his stint with Ocasio-Cortez, he said, is that it’s important to go into Congress with relationships already in place with like-minded Democrats. He’s been connecting with other progressive Democrats running for Congress, like Nate Blouin in Utah, to create a plan of action.
Still, he acknowledges, his plan is risky.
“If I do go after party leadership, I try to do the political revolution there, and it doesn’t work then, yeah, I’m not going to have a long career in Congress,” he said. “But I think that’s okay.”
He’s rarely voted here.
His primary residence is in Maryland. At least it was until he decided to run here.
Most of his donors are outside of California.
He claims to be a progressive, but endorses centrists.
He touts his time working for Bernie and AOC, but neither has endorsed him or even made supportive statements.
He claims his primary goals include lowing PG&E rates and reducing the cost of living in SF, things Congress don’t control.
If he wants me to believe he’s not a carpetbagger or a fraud, let him run for Board of Supes or State Assembly. Put in the time, prove you can be trusted, then run for Congress.
I agree with you generally. But charisma? No contest! Where’s Saikat’s positive family oriented rap video? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iQVsVNPkPmE
Saikat dreams of wishing to having aspirations wherein he looks this good. Don’t believe me? Look up Mamdani’s living situation prior to being elected and tell me that saikat can touch him.
You’re voting on charisma?
He’s a carpetbagger who just wants to rant about national issues.
San Francisco needs someone to represent US.
If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride. Imploding the calcified and. entrenched system in Washington DC is understandable, but Saikat’s naïveté is on full display. Electeds must know how to pick their battles in order to make incremental changes, and must build coalitions and relationships; that takes many months and years. Zohran Mamdani is an excellent model of both practical and charismatic leadership: he seeks “radical” change while working incrementally with others to implement change. Unlike Saikat, Mamdani has a 5 year record of policy making and action taking while holding elected office. Mamdani and Chakrabarti are both charismatic, but Zohran is the real deal and a total wonk, with a record to prove it. Because candidate Saikat has no record whatsoever of legidlating or building relationships with other elected policy makers, or working on the ground on local issues with community activists and reformers, this is all pie in the sky rhetoric. Saikat is an experienced and energetic campaign strategist.
He does have a splash of experience in D.C., which is not nothing. And AOC is proof that legislative experience is not necessary. Chan has put forth too many milquetoast responses to ML to count. If Mamdani is the current progressive gold standard, Chakrabarti comes closer.
At this point, I think it would be smart for the SF progressive old guard to come around, but that of course won’t happen.
It is regrettable (and sexist and possibly racist) that Connie Chan’s diverse record of local public service is repeatedly discounted or disparaged in this campaign. And still, she persists. She has deep experience and extensive knowledge of how government works because she has worked as a legislative aid to supervisors, has worked in the DA’s office, has worked for Rec & Park. San Francisco’s annual budget of nearly $15 billion is larger than 17 different states so Chan’s impressive record as 2 term Budget Chair on the BofS is comparable to a state governor….. practical, steady and nuanced. During the many months of hearings on Lurie’s controversial density upzoning giveaway to developers, Chan was the only supervisor to work overtime to craft nimble amendments to provide workable protections for the stability of +40-60,000 San Franciscans and for neighborhood serving small businesses. Chan’s record reflects a tenacious line by line approach to ensure that the most vulnerable citizens are not forgotten by democratic government.
She lost me with her foreign policy answers to ML queries. For instance, when asked for a January 27th article if she supported striking Iran I cringed straight through her response as she kicked it off by saying it’s the US’s role to intervene, then lamented the loss of USAID as a regime change booster. Plus, she didn’t answer the question and it had to be put to her a second time (at which time she did give a reasonable response).
The other part is the polling. It’s just not happening for her.
Blame sexism and misogyny if you want, but there’s Cori Bush, Ihlan Omar, AOC, Jasmine Crockett and whoever else who have made it in.
I do agree with the gist of much of what you write, but to completely dismiss Chakrabarti as naive when this article succinctly lays out what went down during his brief tenure is a bit of a head scratcher. My guess is that he probably has a decent understanding. Plus, whoever is elected will be groomed, as we’ve seen with AOC.
For me one of the biggest concerns (although I’d never vote for him) are shown by the quotes of Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff (below). I want someone who represents us with agency in the House not a blowhard with zero intellectual humility or understanding of how things actually get done in Congress.
“If you’re just pissing on people who are on the same side of the aisle as you, you’re not going to get support in committee, on the floor,” he said. “You’re going to make your own political grandstanding a liability for your constituents.”
Infuriating other Democrats, Hammill added, could make it hard to get desired committee assignments. And as bills work their way through committee, those Democrats — plus their allies — may be reluctant to entertain amendments or funding requests.
The extent of Saikat’s experience is in running campaigns and social media messaging. Mamdani is a triple threat: 1) he has a solid political record of legislating and policy, making, while actively standing shoulder to shoulder in the trenches with working people to change the system. 2) he is a powerful and charismatic orator. 3) he seeks to make “radical” change while focusing on incremental and noticeable improvements that everyone can see. Saikat has done none of this. He has no record.
The article mentions that the Democratic party has a 35.3% approval rating. Perhaps it is time for the Democratic Party to show that it can actually get things done (not fight amongst ourselves). SF has three progressive candidates running for CA-11 whose visions are not substantially different. However, their styles are, from Wiener who receives an A+ Courage Score from Courage California, an organization that tracks how progressive and effective a state legislator is to Chakrabarti who is taking a “burn it all down” approach. It may be why perhaps not a single current House member has endorsed him including AOC and Sanders. Chakrabarti shows zero intellectual humility – that maybe other Democrats across the nation with different constituents may also have valid input and he seems not to understand that collaboration is a part of legislating. In your article, he admits that his plan for Congress is “risky”, but for whom? He can crawl back into his $5+ million self-funding lifestyle while the rest of us suffer the economic consequences and loss of Democracy that “his risky plan” creates. I am reminded of that Great Gatsby line that ends with “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” I’m voting for a candidate who is deftly able to build coalitions and get things done. That is definitely not Candidate Chakrabarti.
This article confirms my feeling that Chakrabarti isn’t really what he claims to be. There’s a clear contradiction between what he says and how he’s running: presenting himself as a social democrat (dropping AOC’s name whenever he can) while also being able to pour millions of his own money into his campaign to get ahead. Looks to me less like earning support and more like trying to buy a seat.
I think he is less interested in representing the people of San Francisco, and more like he’s trying to use us as a stepping stone for a bigger platform.
I still haven’t heard a good explanation for why this “blow it up” guy supported the less progressive candidate for supervisor in district 5, ousting a DSA guy, and didn’t support the progressive candidate for mayor.
my partner got a call from his campaign today and asked this very question – and they hung up on her! not a good look
A once in a generation congressional race should be about the people of San Francisco.
Saikit Carpetbagger makes everything about himself.
San Francisco giving this
out-of-towner his first gig as our one voice in Congress will only exacerbate that fact.
Nancy Pelosi never came to the community with personal issues, complaints of being treated unfairly, or whining about not being given credit for work completed. For Nancy, it was always about us: the people of San Francisco she came to serve.
Not so with Saikit. This stranger to the City demands the attention and that he be considered first. Mind you to remember, Saikitt specifically moved to San Francisco to run for Congress, after fallout as AOC aide, Saikitt hasn’t even helped a ‘little ole’ lady across the street in our district, as of the last campaign reporting of tens of millions Saikitt spent campaigning on television.
This article comes off to me as a political hit piece, with hardly a mention of the policies that Chakrabarti supports. As an organizer he is confrontational and makes demands directly of institutional Democrats who are all to willing to cut corporate deals. I find that refreshing and necessary. As a politician, he reminds me of Chris Daly, who made no pretensions or plans for longevity in politics and instead tackled issues directly, trying to mobilize serious grassroots dissatisfaction around each issue. Wiener connives at every turn to appear progressive (which he is on LGBTQ+ and a few other issues), while hiding his serious biases to developer and corporate interests. I would like to see an ability in Connie Chan to mobilize San Franciscans and speak truth to power. This background piece does not turn me off to Saikat Chakrabarti, it intrigues me.
This piece is a profile I guess? It has a “that happened then that happened then that happened” quality that’s making it hard for me to see the point? Is the point simply that people’s plans for what they want to achieve and how often fail when they meet with realities of government/political party/other institutions? That’s good point but I feel like the piece is trying to present something more surprising or suggestive?
> “… That happened then that happened then that happened” quality
For helping us get to know the candidates, that’s good enough for me. Informed voters will shape what’s “more surprising or suggestive”– hopefully in the best way.
My view: If you have a full time job (eg. Chan, Weiner) and have to actually convince people to give up their time and energy and money to literally go door to door for you (eg. Chan, Weiner), that’s a LOT already. Then, you have to do your job AND accomplish stuff, all the while people are actively trying to undercut you politically (eg. Chan, Weiner). So, if you have piles and piles and piles of money, no job, no responsibilities, then I need to see WTF you have done with your time and money that shows me what you would be able to accomplish if you were to be put in power.
Seriously. Think about what YOU would do if you had 100M in the bank. Look around. I literally pay my kids to sweep the sidewalks on my block. I buy terrible paintings from the homelss guy on the corner. I’ve paid for after school events for endless kids at our highschool and jr. high. There is an ENDLESS amount of *need* in this city. So, when I look at this guy, who really aligns with me politically, and I see he has done practically nothing, it’s just infuriating. truly infuriating. I would SOOOO much rather vote for a candidate with his beliefs and an actual record of actually acomplishing things for the community with all his free time and money, but I can’t. I’m stuck with people who work hard and have accomplished things to help our society (eg. Chan, Weiner)
When I think of Chakrabarti, he reminds me of a saying, “Experience is a dear teacher, and a fool will learn no other way.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for change in D.C., but his style is foolish. You have to change with class, style and substance.
Chakrabarti’s combination of performance and rich-guy arrogance is really ugly to me. It sounds like he got fired for being a jerk. Now he’s trying to buy himself a seat in Congress. I really don’t see the appeal and would much rather see Wiener or Chan, both of whom have demonstrated the ability to be aggressive and effective without the self-aggrandizement.
Childish. I hope he has no career in Congress.
Thinly-veiled pay-to-play politics has taken center stage and this is far too close to home.
Ah, a breath of fresh air. The polls showing the public thinks less about the Democratic Party than Trump speaks volumes about the political moment. Ok – so he’s young and made some stupid mistakes. Well, well, well – now who would imagine that? Young people never make mistakes. The key thing is he appears to have learned from them. It is time for youth, a strong turn to the left – or this country will slide even more towards oligarchy.
A Radical rich guy ?
Hmmmmm
Throws the barmaid under the bus ?
The bat boy wants to pinch hit for Barry Bonds ?
About 125 years ago the good citizens of San Francisco passed a law banning Chinese immigrants from entry to the city.
Let’s show the World how much we’ve changed.
In a move that will piss Trump off the most.
Gimme Chan, Chair of Budget Committee andTiger lady from Hong Kong.
In this time of crisis for all immigrants let the City of Immigrants send an immigrant to represent us in the Congress of the United States of America.
Go Niners !!
h.
Good profile. We have here a badass.
In order to make plays like Chakrabarti intends requires extraparliamentary organizing to put pressure on the electeds.
Self funding a campaign is one way to build that kind of on the ground power, but that is not scalable or sustainable.
Chan’s campaign is so weak that she could never put together the energy to be anything but a caretaker, administering the distribution of federal patronage. I’d not be surprised if Chan’s campaign is intended to diminish Charkrabarti’s vote, easing Wiener’s ascension as the political class of which Chan is a member in good standing desires.
The US is so deep in a hole, the Democrats proven so unwilling to strategize on how to defeat Republicans much less go up against the Democrat borg, even when they win elections, that similar to Steyer, it might make sense to elect people who are independent of the political patronage operation to blow out the cruft in the pipes.
The days of the liberal caretakers of empire of the Pelosi school are drawing to an end. They are not fit for purpose. There are no guarantees in any event. But doing nothing only ensures continued decline.
Here we go, another Mission Local Saikat bashing article. Keep on pounding, you’re just making him look even more badass. I will be enthusiastically voting for him.
Not sure this simping helps your man’s prospects