If you’re running for Congress in San Francisco and have the choice between $10 million or Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s endorsement, go with Pelosi.
Supervisor Connie Chan and tech centimillionaire Saikat Chakrabarti, both progressives, were never the alphas in the race to replace Pelosi, who is retiring from Congress after nearly four decades representing San Francisco and two stints as House speaker. State Sen. Scott Wiener, a YIMBY moderate Democrat with extensive political experience, was always going to skate out of the June 2 primary and land on the Nov. 3 general ballot.
Every dollar, every supporter, every door knock therefore mattered in Chan and Chakrabarti’s race for second place. What helped Chakrabarti: nearly $10 million of his own fortune that he spent on his bid, which many political insiders expected could give him the edge over Chan, despite his low name recognition.
Turns out, some San Francisco bona fides — plus Pelosi’s critical endorsement — are worth more than that.
Pelosi boosted Chan on May 18, in a video describing the supervisor as “the leader best prepared to carry forward the fight for San Francisco in the Congress of the United States.” Though Pelosi’s coveted endorsement came later than Chan had hoped, voters took notice.
Though Chan had lagged the tech centimillionaire in polls prior to the Pelosi endorsement, Chan surged ahead of Chakrabarti by a nearly 2 to 1 margin in Tuesday’s election and will advance to the general election, though she trails Wiener by double digits.
In an interview with The Standard at her election party at the queer-friendly El Rio bar in the Outer Mission, Chan noted that Pelosi’s backing had helped her turnaround.
The endorsement “absolutely changed the tide, and turned the tide for us,” she said. “We had been building the momentum allowing her to come in with, I say, the fatal punch.”
By 10:45, the Chakrabarti camp seemed to be the only losing side still celebrating. At the The Chapel in the Mission, drinks were flowing, dance music played from the speakers, and members of the campaign started giving out participation trophies to staff. Chakrabarti had his signature wide grin as he walked into the crowd, waving, trailing, but still not conceding.
However, less than two hours later, the AP called the primary race for Wiener and Chan.
Wiener said during his celebration speech at his campaign headquarters in the Castro that he anticipates running against Chan in November — and indirectly against Pelosi.
He noted that his campaign was up against the same “institutional” challenges that he faced when he first rose to power as a supervisor more than a decade ago.
“When I first ran for supervisor, and parallel to today, I had a whole bunch of institutional stuff against me. And we have that again today,” Wiener said. “And we did the work, and we made the case and won, and we’re going to win this race as well.”
Not if Pelosi has her say. The retiring Representative has harbored a grudge against Wiener for his years-long shadow campaign for her seat. And his decisive victory on Tuesday night looked unlikely to change her mind.
A spokesperson confirmed that the former speaker was “feeling very proud of Connie Chan!”
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