Former Mayor London Breed said she will “seriously consider” jumping into the congressional race to succeed Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who announced her retirement Thursday.
“We had such a fierce leader in Nancy Pelosi — and when I say fierce, she not only was an incredible leader, but she always delivered for San Francisco,” Breed told The Standard. “At the end of the day, I care about San Francisco and the people of San Francisco, and I want to be a part of the effort to deliver. This could be an extraordinary way to do that.”
A San Francisco native who overcame tragedy and hardship to become the city’s first Black woman mayor, Breed served for the better part of seven years and led the city through the pandemic before losing last year’s election to Daniel Lurie. She was twice elected as mayor after receiving an interim appointment in late 2017 following the death of Ed Lee.
Breed said she was not considering a run for Congress until she received a slew of calls Thursday. Pelosi announced that morning that she will not seek another term after twice serving as speaker of the House and representing San Francisco for nearly four decades in the lower chamber of Congress.
“I’m gonna be honest, I’ve been very surprised how enthusiastic some of these people are,” Breed said.
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The former mayor could shake up a field that is almost certain to grow in the coming weeks.
State Sen. Scott Wiener, a moderate Democrat ally of Breed’s, launched his campaign last month, and progressive tech millionaire Saikat Chakrabarti has been gaining momentum with campaign kickoff events and a mostly self-funded campaign since February. Supervisor Connie Chan, a progressive Democrat representing the Richmond, is rumored to have an interest in running.
Pelosi has left tea leaves that she could back Chan by recently appearing at events with the supervisor.
There could be many complicating factors for Breed, who previously served as District 5 supervisor after running the African American Art and Culture Complex. Her past campaigns have been run by Maggie Muir, who’s now working for Wiener. The state senator also has quickly amassed a campaign warchest of roughly $1.7 million while scooping up endorsements from City Attorney David Chiu and Attorney General Rob Bonta, as well as pro-growth advocacy groups like SF YIMBY. Breed acknowledged the potential awkwardness.
“That’s probably gonna be hard for a lot of people, but Scott and I have always had a great relationship and hope that continues,” said Breed, who received Wiener’s endorsement (opens in new tab) in last year’s mayoral race as well as a fraught dual endorsement in her 2018 race (opens in new tab) against Mark Leno. “I know he has been planning this for some time, but this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and San Franciscans should have options for something this important.”
Wiener’s campaign and Pelosi’s team declined to comment.
“We should have term limits so this seat isn’t a ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity,’” Chakrabarti said in a text message.
Many political insiders and elected officials reached for comment Friday were surprised to learn that Breed may run. But Rafael Mandelman, president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, confirmed that he had heard the rumor Thursday while attending a retreat in Sonoma organized by political affairs group Platinum Advisors.
At the event, former Mayor Willie Brown told attendees that Breed had called him that morning to say she was giving hard thought to running for Congress.
“I can’t offer her advice,” Mandelman told The Standard. “I’m supporting Scott Wiener.”
Since leaving office, Breed has worked as a policy adviser to the Aspen Institute and helped with community outreach to seniors and families during the protracted government shutdown.
“I am a public servant, and it’s what I care about the most, so when Pelosi made the decision she wasn’t going to run, I got a lot of calls from a lot of different kinds of people,” Breed said. “It’s been very humbling. Now I have to think about it.”