Nancy Pelosi backs Connie Chan in high-stakes congressional race
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Pelosi's backing of Chan echoes a career spent expanding women's representation in Congress. Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed Supervisor Connie Chan this week in the race to succeed her in Congress, delivering a major boost to a candidate who has struggled to keep pace with her better-funded rivals.
Why it matters: Pelosi's 11th-hour backing could prove decisive in the high-stakes primary, potentially helping consolidate traditional Democratic voters behind Chan while tying her candidacy to one of the most powerful political networks in the country.
Catch up quick: Pelosi announced last year that she would retire after nearly four decades representing California's 11th Congressional District, setting off one of the city's biggest political succession fights in decades.
The race has largely centered on three Democrats:
- Chan, whose base includes labor, Chinese American voters and local progressives.
- State Sen. Scott Wiener, the well-funded institutional candidate with strong support from housing advocates and statewide Democratic leaders.
- Former AOC chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti, the self-funded progressive insurgent running on an anti-establishment message.
Driving the news: Pelosi officially endorsed Chan in a video released Monday following weeks of publicly praising her while stopping short of formally backing a candidate.
Between the lines: The endorsement lands at a pivotal moment for Chan, whose immediate challenge is securing a spot in the November election by placing at least second in the primary.
- Chan and Chakrabarti have been locked in a close fight for second place, and Pelosi's backing could help Chan access the former speaker's expansive donor network as campaigns enter the final stretch before primary voting concludes June 2.
For decades, Pelosi has served as one of the Democratic Party's most influential political power brokers.
- The endorsement carries particular weight for Chan, whose political network aligns with many of the same constituencies that powered Pelosi's rise, including organized labor and immigrant voters.
Pelosi also appears to be drawing a line against the party's anti-establishment wing.
- Chakrabarti has framed his campaign as a challenge to institutional Democratic leadership, arguing the party needs a more confrontational economic message. The former tech executive and Bernie Sanders ally has poured $5 million of his own money into his campaign.
Wiener presents a more complicated political dynamic.
- He is one of the most experienced elected officials in the race and has spent years positioning himself for higher office, but tensions between Pelosi and Wiener over political succession and overlapping ambitions have long fueled speculation about whether Pelosi would ultimately support his campaign.
Pelosi had repeatedly suggested she might stay neutral in the race, but she ultimately chose to intervene two weeks before polls close.
- About 29,000 ballots had been returned as of Tuesday, roughly 5.4% of the 533,000 mailed to voters weeks earlier.
The bottom line: The endorsement may not immediately make Chan the front-runner, but it gives her support from the city's most dominant Democratic figure at a moment when voters are deciding what follows the Pelosi era.