Surprising many allies, labor and civil-rights icon Dolores Huerta endorsed state Sen. Scott Wiener on Monday in his congressional race against Supervisor Connie Chan.
In a statement announcing her pick, Huerta said of Wiener, “He stands with workers fighting for fair treatment, families struggling with an affordability crisis pricing them out of the state they built, tenants struggling with rent, and immigrant communities under attack.”
“I know the difference between a politician who talks about justice and one who fights for it,” Huerta wrote.
Huerta and Wiener have joined forces on various bills over the years, including Wiener’s efforts to revamp the state estate tax. While Wiener has the endorsement of some unions, notably the National Union of Healthcare Workers and the California Conference of Carpenters, Chan is widely seen as labor’s candidate: She has 40 union logos on her endorsement page, and Rudy Gonzalez, a leader of both the San Francisco Building & Construction Trades Council and the San Francisco Labor Council, took a leave of absence from his positions to run Chan’s campaign.
Huerta co-founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez and coined the rallying cry “Sí se puede” during a 1972 labor fight in Arizona. Her sole endorsement of Wiener is a hit to Chan’s campaign, which has been busy racking up new endorsements, most recently from Rep. Ro Khanna.
“She was never on my radar about this campaign,” said Gonzalez, who says he did not expect Huerta, who lives in Bakersfield, to weigh in on a San Francisco race. Chan’s campaign has instead sought the endorsement of the United Farm Workers, which endorsed Chan’s 2024 reelection campaign for supervisor.
Huerta and the United Farm Workers make independent endorsement decisions. In the 2024 California Senate primary, the United Farm Workers endorsed Adam Schiff, and Huerta endorsed Barbara Lee.
Surprise among allies
“I am very taken aback,” said Gabriella Lozano, president of the San Francisco Latino Democratic Club. “What I think should happen is that she would also endorse Connie, who aligns more with her mission and vision.”
Lozano argued that Chan, who’s an immigrant, will better represent the struggles of immigrants and the Latino community. She says that Wiener was absent from the Latino Democratic Club’s congressional forum this past February. (At the time, Wiener said that his absence was in protest of the club’s way of investigating accusations of sexual assault against its former president, Kevin Ortiz.)
The Latino Democratic Club, which endorsed Saikat Chakrabarti in the primary, will endorse Chan later this week, said Lozano.
Huerta’s endorsement carries weight. During the November 2024 election, after Huerta endorsed incumbent London Breed for mayor, Tracy Gallardo, a founder of the Latino Task Force, described a Huerta endorsement to Mission Local as an ace in the hole.
“I’ve worked on other campaigns where the minute [Huerta] dropped an endorsement, every Latino caller, that is what we used. Oh Dolores Huerta? Si, cómo que claro que si. Who do you want me to vote for? Okay.’ You say Dolores Huerta, you slap that on a flyer and you put that out, you got the vote.”
After Huerta endorsed Breed, Sal Rosselli, president emeritus of the National Union of Healthcare Workers and an old ally of Huerta’s since the ‘80s, reached out to her and made a case for then-Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin as a stronger labor candidate. Huerta went on to endorse Peskin, Breed’s rival, as well.
Rosselli, whose union supports Wiener, said he initiated the idea of seeking Huerta’s endorsement. “I knew that Dolores joining our team to elect Scott would mean a lot,” said Rosselli.
Last year, the National Union of Healthcare Workers endorsed Wiener, in part over state legislation Wiener authored to expand access to mental-health services and to examine pay disparities affecting mental-health workers. “When I saw her at her birthday celebration a couple of months ago, ‘I said, Dolores, we have to get Scott elected.’ And she said, ‘Of course’ instantly.”
Huerta “is an incredibly powerful and important voice, iconic, inspirational, but not infallible,” said Mike Casey, president of the San Francisco Labor Council who now works on a pro-Chan independent expenditure committee. Chan has built a broad coalition of labor support, Casey continued, and Huerta’s endorsement of Wiener is “kind of a distraction.”
“This is the first time, to my knowledge, that Dolores has ever endorsed a candidate who was rejected by the California state labor movement and the San Francisco labor movement,” Casey added, referring to Chan’s endorsement by the California Federation of Labor Unions and the San Francisco Labor Council.
“I haven’t given up any hope that maybe she’ll … give a nod to both of them and recognize that they both should get her endorsement,” Casey said.
Gonzalez added that he’s going to send Huerta “a list of every union that’s endorsed Connie. Just to let her know.”
She’s allowed to make up her own mind even when you don’t approve.
Huerta is a Bakersfield resident drinking the koolaid that SuperPAC money buys. If she’s so out of touch with labor unions and the extreme gentrification Wiener has presided over both locally and at the State level, her endorsement is literally pointless fluff PR and nothing more. Money changed hands here, no doubt.
“He stands with workers fighting for fair treatment, families struggling with an affordability crisis pricing them out of the state they built, tenants struggling with rent, and immigrant communities under attack.” – Rhetorically? Perhaps. In reality he’s helping create the conditions that price them out of the area while pretending to help.
So, since Dolores Huerta doesn’t agree with your position, she’s “drinking the koolaid”?
FYI, the surest way to gentrify a desirable place (i.e., one with economic, cultural and social opportunities like SF) is to NOT allow the creation of sufficient housing — across the board — relative to demand.
The continual NIMBY-driven stymieing of housing over the past 5+ decades has caused a chronic housing shortage (SF’s rental vacancy is less than 2%!) inevitably resulting in the runaway housing costs — which (surprise surprise!) has fueled gentrification! Go figure!
Scott Wiener is working hard to address this shortage whereas NIMBY Connie Chan wants to continue the status quo.
You seem to be upset over the 5 decades of “NIMBY-driven stymieing of housing”, but not over the 6 decades that Huerta kept quite about abuse to her and children by Chavez in order to “not hurt the movement” (her words).
She is not a San Francisco resident so she should just endorse her own congressional representative choice.not ours
Ro Khanna isn’t a San Francisco resident either; by your “logic” he should withdraw his endorsements of candidates outside of his district; right?
Scott Weiner has demonstrated over and over again that he is willing to take on any fight and see it through. He has managed to shepherd major housing bills through the legislature against very significant odds. He is fearless. I will vote for him and I will encourage my friends to do the same. His actual record exceeds Chans in every way.
And all of his housing bills, along with the state’s draconian attempt to control land-use policy in individual cities, have not made a single dent in the cost of housing.
Yes, more housing has been built, but this is California, where out-of-state residents, Hedge Funds, retirement plans, and contractor flippers buy houses as investments, not as places to live. We can construct 5 million more homes in California, it won’t bring prices down–that’s just more real estate for rich people to grab.
So just admit it. There’s no way to decrease the cost of housing int he State unless we limit ownership, and that will never happen. People talk about having to comply with state mandates or else… or else what? We also had a nonpartisan redistricting commission, which Newsom and the voters got rid of. We can get rid of anything we want, either thru the legislature or at the ballot box thru initiative.
but 1st and foremost, we need to admit that we can’t solve affordability. But no one wants to say that.
Yes, he has taken on the fight against workers and low-income families, and he has been fearless in his support of landlords, developers, and the ruling classes in general.
Chan might not be very good, but Weiner is awful.
Dolores Huerta understands that Scott Wiener is, hands down, the more progressive candidate, one that represents the future and has an impressive legislative record (including actually working with Huerta!) to prove it — whereas Chan is the NIMBY candidate of the failed status quo and has yet to author — much less get passed into law — a single piece of significant legislation.
Huerta won’t be “double-endorsing” the phony Chan.
Huerta is a hugely important iconic figure. Her endorsement of Breed tells you a lot though. Legendary 96 year olds can make bad decisions when influenced by “union” leaders who aren’t supportive of all unions. This is what has happened. It’s unfortunate but Wiener has the bucks rolling in from the Republicans (developers) and this is the type of outcome that can result. Vote Connie Chan.
So are you — who asserts that all unions must be supported — are a unequivocal supporter of the police union (s)!
@Karl – So-called police unions include the brass, i.e. management, so they aren’t really unions at all. Certainly not labor unions.
Yes. She can endorse whomever she wants, and she can un-endorse. That’s what happened with Breed- she later “regretted ” that endorsement, and endorsed Aaron Peskin as her #1.
I bet she will un-endorse Wiener when she gets the correct info. Seems like she has a bunch of corporate Democratic Partyers surrounding her, giving her bad advice.
I trust Dolores to turn around on this one, too.
Q: And who convinced her to un-endorse London Breed?
A: Sal Roselli, the president emeritus of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, that’s who.
Q: And who is endorsing Scott Wiener for congress?
A: Sal Roselli! Who, as this article makes clear, is the trusted confidante that suggested to Dolores that she endorse Scott as he is, by far, the best candidate the represent CA D11 at the national level.
Go Wiener!
Dolores Huerta has endorsed the conservative candidate again as she did with London Breed. She does not live in San Francisco and thus is of no importance at all
Who cares who Huerta supports?
She has no idea what goes on in SF. Or what Wiener’s pro-real estate, anti-disadvantaged policies are all about.
And she, along with Chavez, were incredibly horrific union stewards.