Scott Wiener files paperwork to run for Congress in 2028. Could he challenge Pelosi?
State Sen. Scott Wiener has made no secret of his plans to run for Congress, but his decision to file paperwork Friday to run in 2028 means there is a chance he could challenge Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who has held the seat for nearly four decades.
Wiener, D-San Francisco, has previously said he would seek the seat whenever Pelosi decided to step down. He will be termed out of the California Legislature in 2028, where he has been a strong advocate for policies to spur housing construction and fund transit systems. Like Pelosi, Wiener has been a fierce critic of President Donald Trump.
Wiener said in a statement to the Chronicle that he expects the seat to be open in 2026 or 2028.
'I've been clear that I intend to run for this seat whenever the race opens up, whether in 2026 or 2028. This filing is a critical step to prepare for the serious work of running to succeed one of the icons of American politics,' the statement reads.
A spokesperson for Pelosi told the Chronicle in April that 'no announcement has been made either way' regarding whether she plans to for reelection in 2026. The spokesperson declined to comment to the Chronicle on Friday.
Wiener's move comes during a week in which calls to replace aging Democratic stalwarts with new voices have hit a fever pitch. On Tuesday, 33-year-old Zohran Mamdani shocked the Democratic Party with his mayoral primary victory over political scion and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. That same day, California Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, became the ranking member on the powerful House Oversight Committee — a position long reserved only for the most senior party members. Garcia is 47 and serving his second term in Congress.
Wiener has long been running a sort-of shadow campaign for Congress. In 2023, he secured the support of several powerful Bay Area female leaders, including state Sen. Catherine Stefani (then a San Francisco supervisor); former San Francisco District Attorney Suzy Loftus; Debbie Mesloh, former chair of San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women; and Andrea Dew Steele, the co-founder of Emerge America, which trains Democratic women to run for office.
Their support could be crucial to Wiener if he ultimately runs against Pelosi's daughter Christine Pelosi, who's been long thought to be a contender for the seat when her mother retires.
Nancy Pelosi has already drawn a Democratic challenger in 2026, if she decides to run for reelection: Saikat Chakrabarti, 39, a founding software engineer at the tech firm Stripe and former chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
'The next (Mamdani) could be (Chakrabarti) running against Nancy Pelosi,' wrote Cenk Uygur, CEO of 'The Young Turks,' a progressive online news show, on Wednesday. 'If he beats Pelosi, the old guard of the party will be devastated. Time for a new Democratic Party.'
Pelosi, 85, was first elected to the House in 1987 and quickly rose through the ranks, becoming the first woman to lead either party in 2003. She became the nation's first female speaker in 2007 and ascended to the top job again in 2019 after her party recaptured the House.
She is widely seen as the architect of landmark legislation, including the Affordable Care Act during the Obama administration, and is a prolific fundraiser, harvesting $1.25 billion for Democrats since she ascended into party leadership, according to party officials.
The speaker emerita — who took on the honorific after stepping down from leadership in November 2022 — has continued to represent San Francisco in the House, and won her 20th term in Congress in November 2024.
If elected, Wiener would be the first openly gay member of Congress to represent San Francisco.
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