Congressional candidate Saikat Chakrabarti is an outsider to San Francisco politics who has not been welcomed by the city’s political establishment, progressives and moderates alike.
But instead of seeking their vote of confidence, he’s bringing other outsiders in.
On Thursday evening, Chakrabarti’s “Change the Party” rally drew many hundreds of attendees who packed City Nights, a nightclub in SoMa, to the brim. Daddy Yankee’s “Gasolina” blasted from the speakers while attendees waved “Fight Trump” and “Lower costs” signs in the air.
Jamaal Bowman, former representative for New York’s 16th District, flew in for the event, as did Darializa Avila Chevalier, Angela Gonzales-Torres, and Melat Kiros, who are running for seats in the House of Representatives for New York City, Los Angeles and Denver, respectively.
“We have to completely change the direction of leadership of the Democratic party. We need a Democratic party that knows how to fight to stop authoritarian rule,” said Chakrabarti.
But the biggest draw, and most controversial aspect, of the night was ostensibly not Chakrabarti, but Hasan Piker, a popular left-wing commentator who has over three million followers on Twitch, and according to Wired, streams for seven to eight hours a day.
When Mission Local waited to speak with Chakrabarti before the rally, the candidate was backstage, in the middle of streaming with Piker.
At the rally, Piker’s comments echoed Chakrabarti’s.
“We deserve a better party that will put your interests first,” he said.
He likened Chakrabarti to Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist who was elected mayor of New York City last year, and reappropriated a popular Maoist slogan: “We can let a thousand Zohrans bloom,” Piker said.
Chakrabarti, both as a candidate and in his previous role as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, has positioned himself as a combative foil for mainstream Democrats. While his campaign is staunchly anti-Trump, he has taken particular aim at the Democratic Party and what he calls its failure to stop Trump’s authoritarianism.
“We ruffled some feathers with the Democratic establishment,” Chakrabarti said to the roaring crowd. “And I’m glad we did.”
Unlike his opponents, State Senator Scott Wiener and Supervisor Connie Chan, Chakrabarti has not held office in San Francisco and, before putting his hat in the ring and spending $4.8 million on his own campaign, had little name recognition here.
When asked how he plans to build trust with voters who may not know him, Chakrabarti said he is focused on getting as much face time with voters as possible.
“I’m not part of the local political establishment,” Chakrabarti said. “The way that we’ve been running this campaign from the start is to be as physically available as possible. We’ve done more public events, more direct voter contact, more conversations with real people in San Francisco than any of my opponents — I think all my opponents combined, at this point.”
The centimillionaire former Stripe engineer, who is likely worth more than $100 million and has paid gobs to hire an army of door-knockers to get his name out, is also turning to social media and its influencers.
On Thursday night, Chakrabarti took interviews with both members of the press and members of what his campaign dubbed “new media:” Content creators and internet personalities with millions in combined followers.
The content creators filed in line, waiting to speak to Chakrabarti backstage and get a few dedicated minutes with the candidate.
But Piker is the most popular (he is sometimes stylized the “Joe Rogan of the Left”), and has subsequently drawn the most ire from moderate Democrats here.
Supervisor Matt Dorsey authored a resolution the same day as the rally asking the San Francisco Democratic Party to condemn Piker and reject any attempt to “change” the Democratic Party to align with Piker’s views.
Dorsey has taken issue with Piker’s outspoken criticism of Israel — Dorsey is, in his own words, a “self-proclaimed Zionist” — and Piker’s comments saying that “Americans deserved 9/11,” plus a bizarre rant in which the streamer called a Vietnamese refugee a “fucking idiotic old lady” for opposing communism and supporting President Donald Trump.
Dorsey and others have sought to paint the online tirade as anti-Asian, though Piker has said that “while my sentiment is vulgar,” his statements have been taken out of context — he is streaming for much of the day, after all.
And on Thursday, no one in the hot and crowded room seemed to pay much attention to Dorsey’s flogging. The crowd was more focused on stump chants like “Abolish ICE,” “Tax the Rich” and “Medicare for All.” While flyers posted around the city had advertised a planned counter-protest outside the rally, no one showed up.
“There’s a lot of people who didn’t want me to be here today from the San Francisco Democratic Party, from numerous astroturf organizations that put fliers all around San Francisco,” Piker said on stage. But, he added, “not a single person showed up to protest. They have the money and interest, but we have the people.”
Candidate Saikat is clearly smart and knows how to read the social media room. His public record is limited only to running campaigns and social media messaging. Conversely, Zohran Mamdani is a triple threat: 1) his solid political record as a democratically elected office holder includes legislating and policy making, while actively standing in the trenches (and going on hunger strikes) with working people to change the system 2) Zohran is a masterful and charismatic orator 3) he seeks to make “radical” change while focusing on incremental and measure-able improvements that everyone can see. Another stark difference between Saikat & Zohran: while both seek to “blow up” the existing oppressive, corrupt & dysfunctional system, Mamdani has tremendous skill to charm and disarm most of his adversaries. Saikat has done none of this. He has no record and was booted for alienating those with the power to stop him.
This guy has not done a single thing to make SF a better place to live. Say what you will about Wiener and Chan, but at least they’ve put in the time and dedicated themselves to public service. This guy materialized out of nowhere. He talks a great game about F-Trump and ICE and everything else just about every Democrat agrees with, but what is he going to do for his constituents? He’s tiresome.
I like everything he has to say…. but… Let me ask anyone here: When you walk around the city, you see tons of things that, – if only you could afford it, you’d help fix xyz. Seriously. I don’t know how many school fundraisers I’ve been to. I don’t know how many homeless I’ve stepped over in the streets. I don’t know how much garbage on the street I’ve wished I could clean. Think about that. Now, imagine if you had no job, nothing to do, and a hundred million dollars. Think about what you would do. Now, look at this guy. And see what he has done for the town he lives in. That’s all. Look at what people do and then vote.
Facts
Couldn’t agree more! Feel the same way about Steyer.
@allegra – Steyer has at least funded nonprofits at a national scale to address climate change, which is a prominent part of his platform.
Mr. Chakrabarti is a leftist, sure. But more surely he is an outsider with no experience in the governance of San Francisco, no tough decisions he has made about how to create significantly more affordable housing, how to deal with street homelessness, how to help the schools or the arts. Nobody hates him yet, because he has not had to make the tough decisions of governance.
Chakrabarti thinks he can buy his way into public office. Maybe he can. But I am going with one of the local candidates.
Did I miss the part where Chan made a dent on affordable housing or a dent in dealing with street homelessness or left SFUSD or the arts better off than she found them?
Fly in you say
Wiener and his campaign staff seem very afraid of Chakrabarti. I would be, too if I was in their camp. There is a new left on the rise in this country, and a counterbalance to wealth inequality is on the way. A candidate that promotes the interests of big real estate and turns a blind eye at gentrification is quite vulnerable.
Who knows Saikat better than Bernie and AOC ?
He spent most of his time the past several years glued to them.
Giving them millions and working with them on policy.
And, they refuse to endorse him.
h.
Who are Bernie and AOC are way too friendly with these days? The establishment. When I look at the others, I think establishment. His history of challenging the establishment is exactly why he has my attention.
In spite of his claims to be a progressive, it’s hard to trust what he says when you consider that he supported Bilal Mahmood, a “moderate,” at the cost of losing Dean Preston, a democratic socialist and most progressive member on the Board of Supervisors, as well as supporting Daniel Lurie for Mayor, whose punitive homeless policies and refusal to support taxes on wealthy business executives are just examples that show how progressive he is. Chakrabarti’s rhetoric is appealing, but some of his actual political decisions undermine his credibility.
I’m really enjoying the progressives getting all high and mighty over defending the category of “progressive” on behalf of an incumbent who’s worked for Phil Ginsburg and Kamala Harris and has not produced any meaningful legislation in 5 years on the Board.
The fear, of course, is that someone who’s not kissed ass up and down the patronage apparatus might gain control of many millions in federal patronage without any obligations to the patronage recipients.
Willie Ratliff of The Bayview was correct when he told me decades ago that it was not about progressive or “moderate,” rather it is all about contracting.
Chan’s campaign emits the odor of death like Campos’ campaigns did. Saikat is a wildcard, and that uncertainty scares the shit out of the patronage class.
Hasan Piker’s support tells you everything you need to know. Chakrabarti is worthless at best…
Saikat is no Zohran. Zohran Mamdani was rooted in the socialist movement, and was proudly endorsed by NYC DSA because he had been with them as an active member for years. Saikat doesn’t call himself a socialist because he “doesn’t like labels” or some silliness. He donated $10,500 to take down a DSA SF and labor-endorsed candidate running for re-election, and it didn’t even occur to him this would be an issue because he’s so disconnected from any movement larger than himself.
Still, I have to hand it to him that he’s making the right enemies. Matt Dorsey is probably the worst elected official in SF, and his desperate neo-McCarthyite attack on Hasan and Saikat is right out of the Republican playbook. I’m undecided on the primary but if Saikat advances to the general, he’ll definitely have my vote over Dorsey’s ally and mentor Scott Wiener.
To clarify— He donated $500 to Bilal in the race against Dean Preston. 10k separately for Bilal’s campaign for a seat in the county Democratic Party. Not that I agree with him on this, but his reasoning for supporting Bilal in the race was his prioritization for building housing: https://missionlocal.org/2025/10/pelosi-challenger-saikat-chakrabarti-launches/
His donation to Bilal’s DCCC campaign was kind of a loophole that allowed him to give more money to Bilal to expand his name recognition.
Saikat is associating himself with positions where majorities of voters are, unlike progressives who hector and lecture voters on where they should be, rage whenever voters do not comply and have been exiled from power as a result.
I don’t like YIMBY, I don’t like evictions, I don’t like layoffs or social services cuts. But decades of scaring the shit out of voters on all of those issues, while having no plan at all on how to advance a progressive agenda on any of it other than to throw new revenues at the conservative mayor and hope for the best, means those appeals have grown stale. Voters realize that the sky is not falling and ignore the cries of wolf.
What kind of psychological damage does being immersed in this self referential political culture portend to those for whom the sky has been falling for decades? Could prog failure to connect with the electorate that perspective hinge on that disconnect?
If $11K was sufficient to take out Dean Preston, in D5, the most prog district that progs can’t hold half of the time, then there are much larger problems at play here. As the Tenderloin was added to D5 during gerrymandering, it is not out of the question that Dean lost votes in the TL due to association with Randy Shaw’s nonprofit empire because they’ve more than seen the work.
Nobody has spent this much money to come in second or third place since the Yankees lost to the Dodgers in the World Series.
Glad everyone had fun, though!
Why is it that everything that Waldron rights appears to have a conservative bias?
We all know that he is bringing in his own money, as has Lurie and now Steyer. I don’t trust him because he has that much money.
However, he is neither endorsed by the corrupt (but never caught) Willie Brown or the other self-enriching hacks that either of the two rivals have on their side.
What Waldron neglects to address is what the discussion was and why young people — tired of militarism and truly awful individuals such as Wiener — are supporting him.
If he comes in second, only a fool (or a YIMBY — same thing!) would vote for Wiener!
Harry, with all due respect, the cheese has slipped off your cracker. This is a straightforward and, frankly, well-written account of both the rally and the state of play in this race. Commenters’ retreats into partisan cocoons leaves them complaining about even the slightest claims of imperfection of their favored candidates; it has turned people’s brains into mush.
JE
Recently I observed a man attaching flyers to telephone poles down a street in SOMA. Each directed tendentious venom against Hasan Piker. Curious, I asked the man “Who is this Piker? I’ve never heard of him.”
The man replied that he didn’t know either, and didn’t care. He said he was however being payed well to post the flyers.
Willie Ratcliff’s observation (mentioned by Marcos here) that San Francisco politics is more about contracting patronage than representing “progressives” or “moderates” was astute. Follow the money….
I don’t think local democrats should unduly worry of losing their lock on power should Chakrabarti win. Their machine routinely sheds workers in “lean” years, and contracts new ones as needed.
If Chakrabarti wins, and he won’t, we should expect an administration little different from Mr. Mamdani’s in New York City.
Once in office, Mamdani moved swiftly to play nice with Wall Street, the Democratic Party, and even Trump. One might say he is now betraying all the promises that helped him win (promises which were largely empty from the start).
Likewise, Chakrabarti demagogically postures and promises: millions of homes, universal Pre-K and childcare, tuition free college and trade schools and lower energy bills.
Mamdani promised free buses. How is that going?
With a picture of a burrito with an $18 price tag, Chakrabarti’s junk mail flyers exclaim “The affordability crisis won’t fix itself.”
Clever. But it is an empty statement. (And possibly insulting to all those who routinely stand in line at FoodsCo for an hour hoping to make the most of their EBT cards! (Sort of like Marie Antoinette’s “Let them eat cake?”)
Like Bernie Sanders, AOC, and Zohran Mamdani, Chakrabarti is a phony socialist. All talk about “affordability”, “oligarchy”, “inequality”, and overturning “Citizen’s United”, but point to salvation within the capitalist system, which cannot be reformed.
Chakrabarti’s mail flyers make his hypocrisy crystal clear by exhorting in large letters, “The Democratic party has to start fighting.” [Sic.]
If he were a genuine socialist he would declare “the working class has to start fighting!” (He might also even bother to call himself a “socialist”, a word that doesn’t appear on his flyer.)
Like the other phonies, his job is to promote the illusion that the Democratic Party is a party for the working class and not for capital. Like the others, his job is to corral idealistic but naive left-leaning voters and shepherd them into the Democratic Party’s “big tent”.
Low in the polls, Chakrabarti is trying to buy prestige within his affluent milieu.
Likewise, he hopes to take advantage of the Democratic Party which is on the ropes and is desperately looking for a Plan B to remain relevant to generations that are disgusted with the bleak future they are inheriting.
How can anyone be truly impressed that ICE, now better funded than the FBI, will require its gestapo to wear body cams? (Scott Wiener boasts of having promoted this as if it were a revolutionary act!)
Who wonders, like myself, why the murderers of Renée Good and Alex Pretti are still free? While families and children are still hounded and even kidnapped! While more concentration camps are being opened?
Genuine socialists will fight for the right of people to live and work in peace wherever they please! They are disgusted by the thousands of migrants and refugees who perish crossing borders hoping for a better life.
Genuine socialists do not call for “taxing the rich.” We call for expropriating the wealth from those who did not contribute to creating it!
Many of the challenges and crises we face are surmountable but require a complete break with the Republican and Democratic Parties.
Jamal Bowman doesn’t live here. Neither does Hassan Piker. Chakrabarti mentions AOC and Bernie constantly, but both of them have conspicuously refused to endorse him.
Scott Wiener has been present and active on hard issues in San Francisco for a long time. If we say we want work and not flash, we have to back it up with our votes.
Weiner gutted environmental protections. Politicians in SF rarely say much about the environment. Green New Deal vs Weiner’s actions in Sacramento isn’t much of a contest. I’m tired of headlines like ‘whale graveyard’. That is the status quo they’re challenging Chakrabarti with?
I can’t believe that a candidate who brings in Hasan Piker would be taken seriously for one second. Piker is a virulent anti-Semite. No, it is not because he has criticized the Israeli government. He has demeaned Jews and minimized Hamas’s evil intent and actions. Wake up, people. The far eft is becoming more and more of a hate cult. The Trump cult is not enough for you? You have to create your own?
AOC and Bernie Sanders have refused to endorse Saikat !
After he spent the last several years giving them millions and working for them.
That should settle the matter for any serious and informed Progressive.
Wiener, on the other hand, has spent his entire career focused on destroying Rent Control housing and writing laws that take away basic property rights from the City of San Francisco and its homeowners.
The boldest move San Franciso can make is not to send another millionaire or a developers’ mouthpiece but to send an actual Immigrant to Congress to represent us.
From Hong Kong, for gawd’s sake !!
Connie Chan for Congress !!
I did a hand made sign for you on my trash cart, Connie.
Along with an American flag !!
Who appreciates America more than an immigrant I ask you ?
go Niners !!
h.
“But instead of seeking their vote of confidence, he’s bringing other outsiders in.” Interesting turn of phrase. Saikat’s vision includes ALL of us-as a native SF’can (born at Mt Zion) and a volunteer with this campaign I experience the demonstration of inclusion and confidence. SF has always been made up of many ‘outsiders’ defined by more than geographic locality. With much confidence, integrity and experience (wrote the Green New Deal, federal funding of drug recovery programs, etc.) my vote and support has been sought and won. We deserve leaders such as Saikat, and he is not an anomaly at this moment-look more broadly at these races across the country- who will help us forge new desperately needed paths and perspectives-unlike Dorsey who is wasting time on resolutions that don’t address the needs of our city and proclaim ignorance. Change is needed, change is coming, and if the Democratic party is to survive and thrive the corporate model of favors and profit to industries must die. We deserve, and have labored far too long, to wait another moment for universal healthcare, affordable housing, education, fully funded public transit and a quality of life that is based on decency. You seemed to have missed the message of this campaign, and those who were there who also share this determination.
Yes Regina I had the same reaction reading the ML article. It is a sectarian perspective on something awesome that was done by Saikat’s campaign: invite other candidates from other parts of the country who are running like him to “change the party”. Those who keep on attacking Chakrabarti – whether because they support Wiener or Connie Chan – don’t have any other arguments than silly nativist and sectarian arguments (carpetbagger, outsider, he’s not a local, he brings outsiders…). Chakrabarti on the other hand never ever attacks Connie or her supporters and when he fights back against Scott Wiener’s attacks, he refers to his endless list of corporate donors, Amazon, Google, Tesla, PG&E, Uber, Facebook, Oracle, Paramount, T-Mobile, Pfizer, Verizon, Blue Shield of California, Visa, Zillow, Target, PayPal, etc. etc. etc. all the many dozens of companies that Scott Wiener will be representing in Congress instead of us.
Dorsey is San Francisco’s Ritchie Torres/ John Fetterman. Oooh, Piker said he’d vote for Hamas over Israel and went on an expletive ridden tirade while watching a video of a Vietnamese refugee laud Trump. Who cares. Dorsey apparently, as he was compelled to roll out the greatest hits invoking rape, jihadism, and Adolf Hitler.
A pox on both their houses
Wow, this is a very surprising piece to see in Mission Local. The article used Fox News as a source, editorialized and used generally charged language, and generally seems like a hit piece.
I love this publication; if I didn’t, it wouldn’t bother me much.
Sir or madam —
Whether Piker said the things he said is not in doubt, so Fox is not a “source” here. This is an even-handed accounting of a campaign rally and a straightforward telling of this moment in time. With all due respect, this is light years from a “hit piece.”
Best,
JE
📣 Hasan Piker’s belligerent podcasting has some people calling him “the Joe Rogan of the left.” Great. Just what “the left” needs. True to form, he’s a bellowing misogynist creep.
Without Bernie or AOC actually endorsing Chakrabarti, this tech money-funded messaging is now evoking the spectre of Mamdani (also in absentia).
I had no idea who Saikat was. I HAD to vote for him because the alternative is far, far worse and if you’ve ever spoken to Scott Weiner, you know how dismissive and demeaning he is.
Nonsense. Scott’s a great guy. He’s always been friendly and accessible and very involved in the community.
It is sad that someone who is as explicitly anti-Semitic, pro-communist, Chinese, and anti-American as Piker is welcomed by anyone, particularly in San Francisco.
Please don’t use the word “Chinese” that way. I don’t think you meant to use the word harmfully. In the spirit of dialogue I will try to like to respectfully explain my request.
In my opinion (that of just some goof on the internet) “Chinese” properly refers to an exceedingly complex culture spanning centuries, continents, and billions of lives lived by people basically not much different than you and me.
Using “Chinese” as a shorthand for the PRC government and the CCP plays into the hands of bloodthirsty authoritarians everywhere (Xi Jinping, people within the US government and media who can manipulate the thoughts and actions of racist dotard Donald, etc)
Meanwhile many many residents of San Francisco consider themselves to be Chinese while also being US citizens and knowing that they endured great difficulties to gain that status and the freedoms that go with it.
Chinese culture is bigger than the CCP, Mao, Xi, and their goons, not to mention the misguided leftist that bought into their toxic ideology. It preceded them, it is independent of them now, it will outlast them.
Thanks for reading. I do strongly agree with you that Hasan piker is nothing but a greedy fool with anger problems. I say he should find the biggest most expensive streaming microphone available, slather it up with vintage fryer oil from the haight street McDonald’s, and stick it where the sun don’t shine.
Wow, every Ashkenzic American who criticizes Israel’s genocidal policies must also be “anti -Semetic”!
Wow!
I was at the rally and liked his message. The politics of the establishment Democratic Party have led us to this moment, and we will not be served by electing someone who seeks to uphold it. As much as I like Wiener, he doesn’t seem like the type to hold leadership accountable. I’m voting Chakrabarti to keep Chan off the ballot come November. I really think we can’t go wrong with either candidate (Weiner or Chakrabarti).
The leftists thought they were in ascendancy after electing four members of Congress in 2018 and later adding Jamaal Bowman.
Now The Squad is down to three members and sinking, like Chakrabarti should as well.