{"id":248131,"date":"2026-04-02T07:36:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T07:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/248131\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T07:36:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T07:36:14","slug":"at-s-f-congressional-debate-candidates-go-on-the-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/248131\/","title":{"rendered":"At S.F. congressional debate, candidates go on the attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

At a testy debate Tuesday night, three candidates<\/a> to succeed Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi as San Francisco\u2019s congressional representative stuck to their lanes, while taking jabs at their opponents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For state Sen. Scott Wiener, that meant emphasizing his legislative record. For just about every topic raised \u2014 AI safety, healthcare, immigration \u2014 he pointed back to one or even several bills he had authored on the issue.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s written a bill to expand insurance coverage<\/a> for mental health and addiction, for instance, and is currently working on another that will allow people to sue Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/a> for violating their constitutional rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to take that federal,\u201d Wiener said several times about state legislation he\u2019s passed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Saikat Chakrabarti, tech multimillionaire and former chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, sees Wiener\u2019s establishment credentials as a liability.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn D.C., I\u2019ve met tons of career politicians and state legislators and saw why they get nothing done,\u201d he said. \u201cThey go there, they say yes to whatever leadership wants them to do, they sell their votes to the highest bidder and that\u2019s why nothing changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chakrabarti thinks that the current Democrats cave to President Donald Trump and on budget demands too often. Once he gets to Congress, he plans to form a coalition that won\u2019t back down, even if party leaders want to.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s going to ruffle some feathers,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you want someone who\u2019s going to get along to go along, then I\u2019m not your guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supervisor Connie Chan, meanwhile, emphasized her immigrant roots and held the line for local progressive groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She asked Wiener about his decision to save Bay Area public transit<\/a> using a sales tax<\/a> rather than a business tax \u2014 a choice that angered some of the state\u2019s unions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy is it that when you have a chance to actually have progressive taxation you chose to actually vote for a regional sales tax where every voter has to pay?\u201d she said. \u201cNow I will have to hold my nose and vote for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiener shot back. \u201cWe could have said, \u2018let\u2019s do a business tax\u2019 and the whole thing falls apart. Or we can say, \u2018let\u2019s do a sales tax,\u2019 which can pass.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ThreeSaikat Chakrabarti, Supervisor Connie Chan and Sen. Scott Wiener at a Congressional debate on March 31, 2026. Photo by Io Yeh Gilman<\/p>\n

A business tax he explained would likely have failed in the legislature, been vetoed by the governor, and led to two of the five counties involved in the tax withdrawing from the agreement.<\/p>\n

And he didn\u2019t stop there with Chan.\u00a0 \u201cYou also opposed some of the early funding measures that we tried to do to save Muni and BART from collapsing,\u201d Wiener reminded her referring to a 2023 effort<\/a> to increase bridge tolls to fund public transit. That measure was supported by every member of the Board of Supervisors except Chan<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Candidates discussed foreign policy at the debate \u2014 with Chakrabarti changing his past stance on Taiwan.<\/p>\n

In January, he told Mission Local<\/a> that if push came to shove and China invaded Taiwan, the United States \u201cshould defend Taiwan.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Tuesday night he shifted<\/a>. \u201cI would not commit to sending military forces,\u201d he said. After the debate, he said that he \u201cmisspoke\u201d during January\u2019s Mission Local interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wiener declined to say what military aid he would send but spoke in favor of defending Taiwan\u2019s democracy. \u201cWe should not tolerate Taiwan being conquered,\u201d he said, comparing the situation to Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. \u201cI don\u2019t want to send American troops, but it is important for us to support Taiwan\u2019s defense.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In January, Wiener and Chan both dodged the question<\/a>. On Tuesday, Chan continued to duck. \u201cThe United States should always be an agent for peace,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The candidates also revisited Gaza, which was the subject of a viral moment during the first debate<\/a> because Wiener refused to take a stance on whether Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. After several days of intense backlash he changed his mind and put out a video saying he had decided it was a genocide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Wiener explained that he opposes offensive weapons sales to Israel but supports defensive weapons sales.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chan also opposed offensive weapons sales to Israel but declined to comment on defensive weapons sales Tuesday. In January she told Mission Local<\/a> that she thinks defensive weapons could be sold to Israel, but only if they were accompanied by humanitarian aid and a ceasefire.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chakrabarti took the most anti-Israel stance, opposing both offensive and defensive weapons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only should we not be providing funds to Israel, we should be exploring how to stop this genocide, including looking at sanctions on leaders of Israel,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With the candidates fast approaching the June 2 jungle primary date, where only the top-two vote-getters, regardless of party, will advance to the general election in November, the race is heating up. Tuesday\u2019s debate \u2014 which was moderated by KQED and hosted by City Arts & Lectures, Commonwealth Club World Affairs and Manny\u2019s \u2014 was significantly more testy than previous outings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That included an in-person rehashing of the recent<\/a> social<\/a> media<\/a> feud<\/a> that\u2019s sprung up between the candidates about campaign finance and Chakrabarti\u2019s San Francisco bona fides.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chakrabarti only voted once<\/a> in San Francisco from 2009 to 2020. He also listed a house in Maryland<\/a> as his primary residence \u2014 which he says happened when he bought a home for his parents but made a mistake on one document.<\/p>\n

That hasn\u2019t stopped an independent expenditure committee from spending $65,000 on mailers<\/a> accusing Chakrabarti of being a carpetbagger, though.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWho\u2019s funding these attack ads?\u201d Chakrabarti said. \u201cThey\u2019re being funded by crypto billionaires who are Trump donors, by tech VCs, including [Y Combinator CEO] Garry Tan, who, the week that the mailers went out, co-sponsored a bill with you, Scott Wiener.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiener clapped back. The bill is to break up Big Tech monopolies and is supported by start-ups and consumer advocates, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As for the mailers, \u201clet\u2019s be clear, Saikat Chakrabarti already has spent more of his tech hedge fund money than everyone else combined, including outside campaigns\u201d Wiener said. Chakrabarti has spent $1.6 million so far, with $1.5 million coming from his personal wealth. <\/p>\n

Wiener continued: \u201cI\u2019ll get my little, tiny violin out.\u201d<\/p>\n

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