State Sen. Scott Wiener’s congressional campaign announced it had raised more than $730,000 in its first day after he kicked off his 2026 bid against Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday.
That’s roughly the same amount as the $720,000 another candidate, wealthy progressive Saikat Chakrabarti, loaned himself to launch his campaign this summer.
Both their stockpiles pale in comparison to what Pelosi, a prolific fundraiser whose political rise began with raising money for California Democrats, has typically amassed in her accounts.
Pelosi reported more than $25 million (opens in new tab) for her 2022 race, roughly $10 million in 2024 (opens in new tab), and $2.1 million (opens in new tab) so far this year. Because she has avoided tough reelection bids, Pelosi has traditionally used her fundraising prowess to support other Democratic candidates.
Wiener’s fundraising haul adds to the $1 million (opens in new tab) he had raised since opening an exploratory committee for the seat two years ago, according to his most recent Federal Election Commission report.
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“I’m deeply humbled by the overwhelming support this campaign has received from the community since our launch. We’re off to a fantastic start thanks to the depth of that support, and I couldn’t be more grateful,” the 55-year-old Democrat said in a statement.
Wiener’s entrance into the race has turned what was already going to be an interesting competition into a must-watch contest next year.
Wiener, who was elected to the statehouse in 2016 after serving as a city supervisor, had previously said he would never challenge Pelosi, a Democratic icon who has represented San Francisco in Congress since 1987. Pelosi has not yet said whether she’ll run for another term.
He reneged on that promise with his foray into the race this week, saying that running in 2026 made sense for him (opens in new tab) as President Donald Trump pushes what Wiener called an “extremist agenda.”
Meanwhile, the campaign of 39-year-old progressive candidate Chakrabarti, who earned a fortune as a top engineer at Stripe before serving as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign manager and chief of staff, has gained momentum. That has put pressure on both Pelosi and Wiener to make their decisions — and, particularly for Wiener, to start fundraising.
Chakrabarti has raised roughly $950,000 so far (opens in new tab), according to his FEC filing, which includes the money he’s loaned to his campaign.
“Saikat hasn’t called a single big donor,” a campaign spokesperson said in a text message. “And he’s proud that without hardly asking, to date we’ve raised $240,340 from 7,025 donations with an average donation of $34.”
Pelosi has declined to comment on the race or her challengers, saying that her focus is on passing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s redistricting ballot measure, Proposition 50, in the Nov. 4 special election.
In her absence, Wiener and Chakrabarti have recently turned their attacks on each other.
In social media posts (opens in new tab), Chakrabarti has dinged Wiener for not saying how he would vote on House Resolution 3565 (opens in new tab), a bill to limit weapons to Israel.
Wiener, who is Jewish, has denounced Israel’s war in Gaza as “horrifying” and opposes selling weapons to the current Israeli government.
“It’s unfortunate that the race has only just begun and my opponent is already completely misrepresenting my position,” Wiener said in a statement.
The barbs preview a campaign centered not on traditional party lines as is most common in other parts of the country, but on San Francisco’s familiar progressive-versus-moderate divide.
Though he’s considered a leading liberal in Sacramento, where he’s passed laws to strengthen LGBTQ+ protections and reform the criminal justice system, Wiener is more moderate by the city’s political standards. He’s one of California’s strongest YIMBYs, and is responsible for countless bills to spur housing construction, earning him the reputation as a developer- and business-friendly Democrat.
In his campaign announcement, Wiener pledged to “fight like hell for the most marginalized in our community” at a “scary time for our country.”
“This moment demands backbone and hard work that delivers results and makes people’s lives better,” he said. “That’s what I’ve brought to every fight in my decades of public service in San Francisco and Sacramento, and that’s what I’ll bring to Washington.”