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Wiener, Chakrabarti advance in race to succeed Nancy Pelosi
Pelosi, 86, who is in her 18th term in Congress, is regarded as one of the most powerful women in U.S. political history. She was the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House and was the chief architect of the Affordable Care Act. She did not endorse either Wiener or Chakrabarti, instead opting late last month to back Chan. Two weeks ago, she endorsed Chan. Over the weekend, Pelosi showed up at an event for Chan wearing a T-shirt with “CONNIE” across her chest. Chan also picked up an endorsement from Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA).
Wiener, 56, was elected to the state Senate in 2016, where he wrote more than 100 laws. The Harvard-educated attorney chairs the state Senate Budget Committee and wants to join the new class of Democrats in Congress. He is known around Sacramento for championing LGBT rights, combating climate change, and pushing for fair housing. He made headlines for pushing back against President Donald Trump’s order to send National Guard troops to San Francisco and has consistently said he would be the strongest candidate to challenge the sitting president.
Chakrabarti, a wealthy ex-tech executive and former chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), has said Democrats are craving a generational change and need a “new kind of leader who is not a part of the establishment, because the establishment has failed us.”
The progressive candidate, who has largely self-funded his campaign, has focused on housing affordability and said his proposals will help San Franciscans from being priced out of the city.
PELOSI ENDORSES CONNIE CHAN TO SUCCEED HER IN CONGRESS
“The centerpiece of my housing plan is creating a federal financing entity that can directly provide low-cost loans to make sure affordable housing actually gets built,” he said. “It can even do things like spin off public developers to build the housing if private markets won’t do it.”
California’s 11th District covers all but the southernmost neighborhoods of San Francisco.