Christine Pelosi — an attorney, women’s rights advocate, Democratic Party operative, and daughter of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi — said Monday that she is launching a campaign to represent San Francisco in the state Senate.
The announcement is surprising in its timing and follows rampant speculation in recent years that Pelosi would attempt to succeed her mother in Congress. Nancy Pelosi announced last week that she will not seek a 21st term in the House, leaving the fight for her seat to state Sen. Scott Wiener, progressive tech millionaire Saikat Chakrabarti, and potentially Supervisor Connie Chan.
In a 42-second video posted to social media Monday, the younger Pelosi noted her credentials for the state Senate while listing priorities she’d focus on as a legislator, including consumer and women’s rights and plans to help immigrants and survivors of gun violence. During her time as chair of the California Democratic Party’s women’s caucus, Pelosi played a key role in elevating conversations around the #MeToo movement and the creation of a Workplace Conduct Unit (opens in new tab) in the state Legislature.
“What do we do when our freedoms are under attack?” Pelosi asks in her campaign launch video. “We speak up, we fight back, and we organize power for the people, and that’s what I want to do for you.”
Pelosi did not respond to requests for comment.
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Wiener’s term doesn’t end until 2028, so he is in no immediate risk of losing his seat even if he’s unsuccessful in his congressional bid. That timing means there may be no rush for other candidates to jump into the fray. But a Wiener victory in next year’s runoff congressional election would open the door for Pelosi and other candidates to run for his state Senate seat in a 2027 special election.
By announcing her candidacy so soon, Pelosi could be seeking to snag early endorsements and build a campaign war chest, a specialty of her mother, a chief fundraiser for the Democratic Party for decades.
Others eyeing the state Senate seat are Assemblymember Matt Haney and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman. A consultant for Haney confirmed that he is interested in running when the seat becomes available.
Mandelman has an active campaign account for state Senate that had raised almost $124,000 by the end of July. He told The Standard he has yet to decide if he’ll follow through in seeking the seat or would defer to Haney and then run for state Assembly.
“If Matt Haney is in fact running for state Senate, I would take a look at his Assembly seat,” Mandelman said. “He and I probably need to have a conversation. He is a very talented elected official, and I want to be supportive of him. So, lots of moving pieces.”
David Latterman, a political analyst, suggested that Pelosi and Haney are the two most obvious candidates for state Senate. Still, only one has served in office in San Francisco.
Haney has served on the Board of Education and the Board of Supervisors, while Pelosi worked as a deputy city attorney and assistant district attorney in San Francisco. She was also executive committeewoman for the Democratic National Committee, an elected position that involves being a delegate for the party’s national convention.
“It always appeared [Pelosi] was trying to use the backdoor — her mom’s name — to sneak in there without having to participate in the trench warfare of San Francisco politics,” Latterman said. “The thing about San Francisco politics is you have to pay your dues. Like him or not, Haney has worked at it and done it for many years, and Pelosi really hasn’t.”