As has long been known, state Senator Scott Wiener has political ambitions beyond the California legislature, and this week he’s apparently making moves.

Scott Wiener has been playing the long game when it comes to getting to DC, and politely waiting his turn to vie for Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat, which she has now held for nearly 40 years. It may be that, behind closed doors, the 85-year-old Pelosi has already told people that this will be her final term, and her retirement announcement could indeed be imminent.

Now, as the SF Standard first reported Thursday, with Pelosi expected to make her announcement “in the coming weeks,” Wiener is reportedly looking to step out ahead of the game and announce his candidacy for 2026, making a formal announcement next week.

We should take with a grain a salt the narrative that Wiener is “done waiting” and is somehow going to show disrespect to the lioness of the Democratic Party — it could well be that Pelosi’s announcement is coming Monday, and Wiener’s announcement will follow shortly thereafter, with the Standard’s scoop simply being a preview of that news. And/or, Wiener leaking this news could be a chess move to hurry up Pelosi’s decision so he doesn’t have to announce first.

But the New York Times, the LA Times, and others have jumped on the story, with the NY Times confirming that sources close to Wiener say he’s now concerned about the competition posed by Saikat Chakrabarti, the wealthy 39-year-old tech bro and former chief of staff to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who formally announced his candidacy last week.

The other likely figure in this hypothetical primary race is Christine Pelosi, the 59-year-old lawyer daughter of Nancy and Paul Pelosi, who has been widely expected to be the receiver of her mother’s torch, so to speak, when she decides to pass it down — with name recognition and her mother’s endorsement likely to work in her favor.

But given that this congressional seat, representing most of San Francisco, has been basically hand-passed down for a couple generations now — from Pelosi’s mentor, Philip Burton, to his wife Sala Burton upon his 1983 death, and to Pelosi after Sala Burton’s death four years later, in 1987 — voters seeking a “change” candidate might be less inclined to reward dynasty candidate Christine Pelosi.

That potentially leaves Wiener and Chakrabarti competing for that “change” contingent, with Chakrabati having millions of dollars of his own money to spend on campaigning. (An early employee at Stripe, Chakrabati is said to be worth $170 million.)

Also, Chakrabati is running as a Democratic Socialist, and likely hopes to ride some of the cross-country, progressive-populist wave that is bolstering fellow Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayor’s race.

But, obviously, the 55-year-old Wiener has far more name recognition with voters here than Chakrabati, and he likely wants to nip Chakrabati’s budding candidacy in the bud.

Wiener served as San Francisco supervisor from 2010 to 2016, and has served in the state legislature as senator since 2017, easily getting re-elected in 2020 and 2024. As a gay man, he is known for championing LGBTQ+ issues in the city and the state, and has put his stamp on legislation focused on public transit and encouraging transit-oriented development.

A spokesperson for Nancy Pelosi issued a statement declining to address her possible retirement, saying only, “Speaker Pelosi is fully focused on her mission to win the Yes on 50 special election in California on November 4th. She urges all Californians to join in that mission on the path to Democrats taking back the House.”

And Wiener addressed his possible candidacy obliquely, telling the Standard, “I’ve been preparing and raising money for whenever the race starts.”

In any event, we knew this day would come. And the unlikely scenario here is that Pelosi announces she’s going seek a 21st term in office, which would be insane.

And yet, we watched her longtime friend Dianne Feinstein do basically just that, and end up missing a bunch of Senate votes as her health declined, and dying in office two years ago at age 90.

Related: Scott Wiener Takes First Official Steps Toward a Run For Congress

Top image: California State Senator Scott Wiener appears during the 2025 San Francisco Pride Parade on June 29, 2025 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Arun Nevader/Getty Images)