{"id":906711,"date":"2026-11-05T11:28:15","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T11:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/906711\/"},"modified":"2026-11-05T11:28:15","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T11:28:15","slug":"state-sen-scott-wiener-to-succeed-pelosi-in-san-francisco-house-seat-as-chan-concedes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/906711\/","title":{"rendered":"State Sen. Scott Wiener to succeed Pelosi in San Francisco House seat, as Chan concedes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), a prolific lawmaker who has reshaped California policy on a host of fronts \u2014 from housing to transgender rights \u2014 will succeed House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi as San Francisco\u2019s representative in Congress<\/a> after San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan called Wiener on Wednesday to concede, her campaign confirmed.<\/p>\n

Wiener, 56, who is gay and reviled by some on the far right for his progressive policies and staunch LGBTQ+ advocacy work, overcame Pelosi\u2019s endorsement of Chan in the much-watched race between Democrats, and will be the first out LGBTQ+ person to represent the bright-blue city in the House.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Washington I\u2019ll bring the same determination I showed in Sacramento every single day,\u201d Wiener said in a statement. \u201cIt\u2019s time to deliver a better tomorrow for our city and our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiener\u2019s win hands Pelosi \u2014 known for her deft political instinct and sweeping influence over the Democratic Party and donor base \u2014 a rare defeat in her home city just as her nearly 40-year career in the House concludes.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press had yet to call the race in Wiener\u2019s favor as of late Wednesday.<\/p>\n

But Chan, a progressive backed by labor, announced she was conceding the race in a statement, writing, \u201cAfter reviewing the results and the ballots remaining to be counted, while we expect the margin to narrow significantly, we do not have a clear path to victory. I congratulate Scott Wiener on his election and wish him success in serving San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chan said she was \u201cdeeply grateful\u201d to Pelosi \u201cfor her trust and for four decades of extraordinary service that have strengthened San Francisco and our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelosi in her own statement said Chan \u201cbrought courage, conviction and a deep love for San Francisco\u201d to the campaign. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs a working mom, a public servant, and an immigrant, she gave voice to families whose struggles she knows firsthand,\u201d Pelosi said. \u201cI was proud to support her, and I am so proud of the campaign she ran.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelosi also congratulated Wiener. \u201cRepresenting San Francisco is an extraordinary honor and a profound responsibility. My office stands ready to assist in the transition, and I wish him success in service for the people of our city,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Wiener thanked Chan for a \u201cspirited and hard-fought campaign,\u201d his campaign team, volunteers, supporters and donors for their hard work, and Pelosi \u2014 whom he hailed as \u201cthe greatest Speaker in modern American history\u201d \u2014 saying he is \u201chumbled to carry forward the powerful legacy of this seat.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also thanked San Franciscans for placing their trust in him \u2014 and making history by sending their first queer representative to Congress, something he said he never could have imagined when he first arrived in the city\u2019s Castro neighborhood as a young man and \u201cfell head over heels for this city.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSan Franciscans voted for results, and we have so much work ahead: Building the millions of homes we need; moving toward true universal health care; investing in clean energy, public transit, and high-speed rail; standing up for science, education, and immigrants; making sure people \u2014 not massive corporations \u2014 decide what works for this country, including on AI; and ensuring the rule of law applies to everyone, including the President,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

He said it \u201cwon\u2019t be easy\u201d but that voters nationwide had \u201cdelivered a powerful mandate for Democrats in Congress\u201d to get it done.<\/p>\n

The race, which ratcheted up when Pelosi bypassed Wiener to endorse Chan in May, just before the June primary, had divided the Democratic Party. <\/p>\n

Chan \u2014 who immigrated to the city from Hong Kong at age 13 and has deep ties to its large Chinese and immigrant communities \u2014 was a community and legislative aide for years, including for then-Dist. Atty. Kamala Harris<\/a>, before being elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2020. She has served as budget chair since 2023.<\/p>\n

In addition to Pelosi\u2019s imprimatur, Chan had received endorsements from major labor groups including the California Federation of Labor Unions and the California Teachers Assn.; a host of Congress members, including Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)<\/a>; various progressive organizations; fellow and former supervisors; former mayor and S.F. power broker Willie Brown; and Saikat Chakrabarti, the third-place finisher in the primary. <\/p>\n

Wiener, a former deputy city attorney and local Democratic Party chair before being elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2010 and to the state Senate in 2016, was endorsed by the state and local Democratic parties; state leaders including California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, state Senate President Pro Tempore Monique Lim\u00f3n (D-Santa Barbara) and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister); various queer organizations; labor groups including AFSCME; more than half the city\u2019s supervisors; and various members of Congress.<\/p>\n

Many of Wiener\u2019s supporters cited his legislative effectiveness \u2014 he\u2019s the author of more than 100 laws, including some of the state\u2019s most progressive laws on LGBTQ+ rights \u2014 and his willingness to fight hard battles, which they said is needed with President Trump in the White House.<\/p>\n

Wiener has pushed progressive laws backing safe injection sites, extending bar hours until 4 a.m., decriminalizing psychedelic drugs, and limits on federal immigration agents<\/a> in California. He has pushed for housing deregulation and development near transit hubs statewide<\/a> to solve the housing and affordability crises, and pushed for artificial intelligence regulation<\/a> while seeking buy-in from wealthy tech leaders \u2014 some of whom backed his campaign.<\/p>\n

He also has passed laws protecting net neutrality<\/a>, capping prescription drug costs and mandating mental health parity<\/a>, ending mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, and requiring that corporations disclose their greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n

Wiener ran on his experience as a lawmaker who would be able \u201cto fight in a smart way, and to fight in an aggressive way, to defeat Donald Trump and to lower the cost of living.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a race to succeed the most effective and operational member of Congress in modern American history,\u201d Wiener told The Times in September. \u201cSan Francisco should send someone who actually has a track record, a proven track record, of being able to deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n

In backing Chan, Pelosi made a point of noting that she had spent much of her political career backing fellow women in office, and said she believed Chan \u2014 an immigrant woman \u2014 would make a mark in Congress, particularly given the political atmosphere under the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Pelosi cheered the election of other women across the country \u2014 even if not her own chosen successor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I came to Congress in 1987, there were only twelve Democratic women. We made it our mission to change that. Today, we celebrate the election of more than 100 Democratic women to the House \u2014 a tremendous joy and source of pride,\u201d Pelosi wrote on X. \u201cWhen women succeed, America succeeds!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), a prolific lawmaker who has reshaped California policy on a host of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":906712,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,13171,102568,7053,1340,16470,14299,2053,16797,9746,379254,3,16324,379253,379255,21,19,22,20,25,24,6601,214868],"class_list":["post-906711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-campaign","tag-chan","tag-city","tag-congress","tag-country","tag-democratic-party","tag-housing","tag-immigrant","tag-law","tag-much-watched-race","tag-news","tag-pelosi","tag-san-francisco-house-seat","tag-state-sen-scott-wiener","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-wednesday","tag-wiener"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=906711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/906712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}