Gov. Gavin Newsom declined to make an endorsement in the heated contest to replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi in Congress during a news conference Friday, saying he had not paid attention to the most closely watched race on San Francisco’s June 2 primary ballot.

“Oh boy,” Newsom said in response to a question from The Standard on his opinion of the field. “[I] cannot tell you how I just haven’t focused on that.”

“I think I’m going to see Speaker Pelosi, though, shortly,” Newsom added, explaining that he planned to attend a Friday memorial of San Francisco labor leader (opens in new tab)Larry Mazzola (opens in new tab). “Maybe she’ll fill me in on an update on the race.”

The race has embroiled San Francisco politics over several months, as the three top candidates — state Sen. Scott Wiener, Supervisor Connie Chan, and tech centimillionaire Saikat Chakrabarti — duke it out for a spot on the November ballot.

As a former San Francisco mayor who still enjoys popularity in the city, Newsom’s endorsement would in theory help catapult a candidate to the top.

In a statement, Wiener, who has worked closely with Newsom during his tenure in the statehouse, said he and the governor “have collaborated for many years to move San Francisco and California forward on the issues that matter most to voters — housing, cost of living, and fighting Trump.”

“I would be honored to have his support if he decides to make an endorsement in this race,” Wiener said.

“We’re honored to have the endorsements of so many national, state and local leaders and of course, we’d welcome Governor Newsom’s support,” Chan’s spokesperson Julie Edwards said in a statement. “Our focus is on earning the vote of every San Franciscan and bringing Connie’s fight for working families to Washington, DC.”

Chakrabarti did not respond to a request for comment.

Pelosi has also declined issue her coveted endorsement, despite the sense that Chan is her preferred candidate.

Newsom has also remained on the sidelines of the crowded gubernatorial race, which is wide open a month from the election. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra has surged to the top of some polls in recent weeks, but former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter and billionaire Tom Steyer remain competitive.

“I appreciate the focus on the race, and it seems to be coming more and more into focus,” Newsom said when asked his opinion of Becerra, who served as California’s attorney general during Newsom’s first term. “It’s my intention not to get involved in the primary. It’s my intention to do everything that needs to be done to make sure that there’s not a lock-out for a Democratic choice in the general election,” he said.

Asked why he’s maintaining that position despite the possibility that his endorsement could sway voters and avoid a situation in which two Republicans prevail in California’s top-two primary system, Newsom said his decision was on “the basis of prior relationships” with Democrats with whom he’s worked for years.

“I was there myself, and Gov. [Jerry] Brown was sitting here saying in essence what I’m saying today,” Newsom said of his predecessor, with whom he served for eight years as California’s lieutenant governor. “It drove me crazy, I admit, when I was the candidate.”