Overview
- Nancy Pelosi publicly endorsed Supervisor Connie Chan in mid-May and in a late-May KQED interview criticized Saikat Chakrabarti’s ties to the city, a move reporters say has injected new momentum into the closing days of the race.
- State Senator Scott Wiener leads in polls as the clear front-runner, while Chan and Chakrabarti are battling for the second spot that will join Wiener on the November ballot under California’s top-two system.
- Chakrabarti has poured roughly $10 million of his own money into the race and won endorsements from progressives including Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, but he faces carpetbagger allegations over a past Maryland address and gaps in local voting.
- Chan has secured establishment and labor backing and appeared in Pelosi’s endorsement video, and some allies cast Pelosi’s intervention as potentially decisive given her long influence in San Francisco politics.
- Local voters say they want a representative who focuses on city needs as well as Washington work, and low early ballot returns plus last-minute endorsements mean the race could still shift before the June 2 primary.