The San Francisco Democrat already represents neighborhoods that tend to resist new housing, such as the Sunset and Richmond districts.

“I was just out at a big town hall in the Outer Sunset, which was mostly about housing,” Wiener said. “And I have no problem with people disagreeing with me, telling me why they think I’m wrong, having those conversations.”

In fact, Wiener seems to relish taking on issues with major opposition, as he has with bills to regulate artificial intelligence, protect gay and trans youth and prohibit federal immigration agents from concealing their faces.

“I’ve been in a lot of different situations where I’ve been willing to break glass and sometimes piss people off, but it was the right thing to do. And so I want to take that approach to Congress,” Wiener said. He said he’s also faced “thousands of death threats,” primarily “from the MAGA hard right.”

Pelosi, who is actively raising money to help pass Proposition 50 on the November ballot, has declined numerous opportunities to say whether she’s running again, leading some to think she’ll retire. Her plans could become clearer after next month’s election on the redistricting measure.

Nancy Pelosi and Congress members speak at a press conference about the government shutdown at North East Medical Services in San Francisco on Oct. 2, 2025. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)

Also running is 39-year-old Saikat Chakrabarti, a wealthy software engineer who helped launch payment processing company Stripe. He also worked as chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who unexpectedly defeated New York incumbent Democrat Joe Crowley in 2018.

Chakrabarti said he’s running against Pelosi, who was first elected in 1987, to offer San Francisco voters a younger generation of leadership.

In that first race for Congress 38 years ago, Pelosi defeated Democrat Harry Britt, the openly gay member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, in the primary.

Pelosi has been a staunch ally to the LGBTQ community, but Wiener said, “It is definitely a time for an openly gay member of Congress from San Francisco,” adding, “We love our allies, but we need our own seat at the table as well.”