All eyes will be on SFUSD Superintendent Maria Su and two other school figures from Chicago and Virginia who are set to speak before a GOP-led committee in DC this week on “inappropriate content” and “legal abuses” in public schools.

Maria Su, superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District, is headed to testify Wednesday morning before the House Committee on Education and Workforce, in a hearing focused on “parental rights,” classroom content, and alleged legal abuses in K–12 schools. As the Chronicle reports, the session, set to begin at 7:15 am PDT, is chaired by Representative Tim Walberg (R-Michigan) and will also feature superintendents from Chicago and Loudoun County, Virginia.

Su is likely to face pointed questioning on issues including transgender student policies, locker room access, sexual health curriculum, pronoun use, and parent notification rules. The hearing reportedly comes as Republican lawmakers intensify scrutiny of school districts in Democratic-led cities, with a focus on policies they argue limit parental oversight.

In written remarks submitted ahead of the hearing, Su emphasizes SFUSD’s focus on academic outcomes alongside student well-being, saying schools must be safe and inclusive for learning to occur. According to the Chronicle, Su writes that the district serves all students regardless of background and works to create environments free from harassment, bullying, and discrimination.

Su’s statement also highlights San Francisco’s history of LGBTQ rights and diversity, noting the district’s efforts to incorporate that history into education. At the same time, she underscores core academic goals including third-grade literacy, eighth-grade math, and college and career readiness, and describes parents as essential partners with defined rights to information, participation, and opt-out provisions in areas such as reproductive health instruction.

Su adds that SFUSD has recently updated curriculum, improved operations, strengthened its financial position, and begun work on its enrollment system, while acknowledging ongoing challenges ahead.

The Chronicle reports that Su is being represented by the City Attorney’s Office, and either San Francisco, the county, or both will be required to cover the costs associated with travel and legal support for the hearing.

A recent Supreme Court decision, Mahmoud v. Taylor, reportedly added new precedent allowing parents to opt their children out of instruction that conflicts with their religious beliefs, in a case involving LGBTQ-themed books in an Alabama elementary school. Legal experts say the ruling leaves unclear how schools are expected to implement it, and critics argue it could give individual families broader influence over classroom content based on religious objections — an issue that is expected to surface during Wednesday’s hearing.

Su is the latest Bay Area K–12 leader to appear before the same committee, following Berkeley Unified Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel’s testimony in May 2024 at a hearing focused on antisemitism in schools, as SFist reported previously. That session drew national attention, though Morthel faced relatively limited scrutiny compared to the New York City schools chancellor, who became the primary focus, per the Chronicle.

The format will reportedly give each superintendent a five-minute opening statement, followed by rounds of five-minute questioning from committee members, with no fixed end time. The Chronicle notes that experts and local officials expect aggressive questioning on politically charged education issues, and say the hearing may hinge on whether witnesses directly engage with lawmakers or attempt to avoid rhetorical traps.

SF Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman said the hearing is likely to be performative at points, and that Su will need to balance defending district policies with avoiding exchanges that could escalate into viral or politically damaging moments.

Related: Berkeley Schools Superintendent Called to Testify Before Congressional Committee Over Antisemitism Claims

Image: SFUSD/Facebook

House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who is now mere months away from a well-deserved retirement, says she's been sitting back and trying to gauge the public's reaction to the candidates running for her seat.

Maybe she's still miffed at Scott Wiener for announcing his candidacy for Congress last fall before she had formalized her retirement plans. Maybe she's trying to give a nod to the powerful unions in SF that have thrown their weight behind progressive Supervisor Connie Chan. Whatever the reason, Nancy Pelosi has stayed mum this primary season about who she wants to see take her seat in the House of Representatives.

One thing that's certain, however: It'll probably be a cold day in hell before she endorses Saikat Chakrabarti, given what we know about her first impressions of him as a congressional aide seven years ago.

Pelosi has been quietly backing Chan since last October, inviting her as the only city official to speak alongside her at a rally with local unions in support of Prop 50, and posing for pictures with her in the weeks before the retirement announcement. And, tellingly, Chan used a photo of her beside Pelosi in her first campaign ad, saying that she stood "on the shoulders of those who came before me and fought for the same values."

Pelosi took her time making her retirement plans public, opting to wait until after Election Day in order not to distract from the Prop 50 vote. And she's similarly slow-walking her endorsement, perhaps because she doesn't want to have to give more than one, or she may never give one at all, as her spokesperson has said she won't — and if Chan is her chosen successor, it is looking likelier that Chan will not make it past the primary, given recent poll numbers.

Still, Pelosi attended a Chan fundraiser two weeks ago, and now she's offered what you'd call a soft endorsement in a new set of comments to the SF Standard.

Pelosi says it is "very exciting" to imagine San Francisco electing its first Asian American representative to Congress, adding, "She'd be a great member of Congress."

Pelosi also confirms that she has been watching and waiting to see how the race shakes out, and implies that an endorsement may ultimately arrive at a later date.

"I thought, for a while, I'd just wait, watch, and see how the public reacted to the candidates for this seat," Pelosi says.

Meanwhile, the SF Chronicle endorsed Wiener last week, noting that while the editorial board "agrees with many of Chakrabarti’s criticisms of establishment Democratic politics and policies," he lacks the experience and support as an incoming member of Congress to accomplish what he talks about, and "talking about radical change and effectuating it are very different beasts." (They also note that the lack of any endorsement coming from natural allies like Bernie Sanders and AOC should "speak volumes.")

The editorial board also said that Chan was "not ready to step into Pelosi's shoes," and would be out of her depth in Congress. And they note Wieners "expansive" legislative accomplishments in the State House, adding that he has a "nuanced legislative agenda."

Wiener hasn't made any attacks in Chan's direction, however his supporters have gone aggressively after Chakrabarti, calling out, in particular, that he owns a home in Maryland and did not vote in San Francisco between 2010 and 2020.

And, speaking to CNN last week, Wiener said, "People may not know all the details, but they generally understand that Nancy has delivered in a huge way for San Francisco. And San Franciscans don’t want someone who’s just going to like be all hot air with lots of hot takes and just having opinions."

CNN notes that that "someone" is clearly Chakrabarti.

Previously: Former Pelosi Staffer Says Chakrabarti Was Fired From AOC's Staff

Top image: Photo via Connie Chan for Congress

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's lack of an endorsement for her former chief of staff in the San Francisco House race was already playing an outsized role in this primary season, but now we get a bit more to the story.

While Saikat Chakrabarti has been quick to drop AOC's name on his TV spots and during door-knocking sessions, AOC has not been so quick to offer an endorsement to her onetime chief of staff and campaign manager. And this has raised questions about what the status of their relationship is, exactly.

And while Chakrabarti may indeed still have a friendly relationship with AOC, as he says he does, he may have pissed off too many of the wrong people in Congress during his brief stint as her chief of staff in 2019. As the Chronicle reports today, citing people who would know, including House Speaker Emerita's then-deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, Chakrabarti was fired from AOC's staff for mouthing off on Twitter too much about their more moderate Democratic colleagues in the House — thus his tenure in that role was only about seven months long.

"[As a staffer] you are supposed to be seen and not heard," Hammill tells the Chronicle. "If other members don’t want to work with your chief of staff, that’s a problem."

Hammill would not confirm or deny whether Pelosi herself had suggested to AOC that Chakrabarti needed to go, but Hammill tells the Chronicle that "it was made very clear to AOC a number of different ways that there is behavior here that is not in your interest," implying that AOC was pressured to fire Chakrabarti. And Hammill says it was his "understanding" that this is what happened.

That would also be the implication of this August 2019 article from The Hill, in which Rep. Ocacio-Cortez sought to distance herself from Chakrabarti and specifically one tweet of his from a month earlier. At the time, July 2019, Pelosi was squabbling with some of the younger progressives in her party, including the so-called "Squad," who had recently joined the House and was attempting to get them in line, and Chakrabarti posted a since-deleted tweet that only inflamed matters.

In it, he accused the Blue Dog and New Democrat coalitions of being segregationists, or even racists. "They certainly seem hell bent to do to black and brown people today what the old Southern Democrats did in the 40s," he wrote.

Pelosi held a closed-door meeting shortly after the tweet was posted, in order to scold members, including AOC, for airing their intra-party grievances publicly instead of bringing their concerns to her, per The Hill. And in a public statement Pelosi even addressed the Chakrabarti tweet, saying, "Our members took offense at that. I addressed that."

After Chakrabarti departed her office, Ocasio-Cortez gave an interview to the New York Daily News, saying of the tweet, "I think it was divisive. I believe in criticizing stances, but I don’t believe in specifically targeting members."

Still, Ocasio-Cortez denied at the time that the tweet was the reason for Chakrabarti's departure, saying, "We had been discussing this transition before that whole incident happened."

The timing certainly points to the tweet being a pretty big problem, and a sort of straw that broke the camel's back for Speaker Pelosi.

Chakrabarti also tells the Chronicle this week that he wasn't fired, and it was a "planned departure." "I felt that the stuff I was good at doing — setting up her office, the Green New Deal stuff — was accomplished," he says.

Nevertheless, an endorsement from Pelosi seems fairly unlikely at this point, and the Chronicle notes that no other sitting member of Congress has offered their endorsement so far either.

In the most recent poll, state Senator Scott Wiener held a solid lead with 44% of the vote, and Chakrabarti had 26%, with challenger Connie Chan a distant third at 11%.

The primary is on June 2, and ballots have already started being mailed out.

Previously: AOC Declines to Endorse Former Chief of Staff Saikat Chakrabarti In Awkward Video

A group of Democrats pledged to drop out of the special election to fill Eric Swalwell’s seat in favor of a caretaker candidate — retired state Senator Bob Wieckowski, with the goal of avoiding a runoff election that would cause Swalwell’s replacement to miss important votes.  

Party leaders are urging candidates to step aside and support retired state Senator Bob Wieckowski in the June 16 special election to act as a temporary replacement through the end of the seat's current term in January. They aim to avoid an August runoff that could leave the seat vacant into late summer and sideline a vote in Congress against several of President Donald Trump’s measures, as the Chronicle reports.

Four candidates, including Victor Aguilar Jr., Carin Elam, Melissa Hernandez, Rakhi Israni, and Matt Ortega, reportedly signed onto the effort, while a major candidate — state Senator Aisha Wahab — has not.

“We ask all Democratic voters to cast their ballots for Senator Wieckowski so he can help Democrats in the House try to block the Republican agenda immediately,” says the statement. “This will only work if all Democrats considering running for this special election agree to sign this pledge."

“All candidates will reserve the option to file for this special election if any of the other candidates breaks their pledge,” the statement explains.

Special election rules stipulate that a candidate who clears 50% on June 16 would be seated immediately, but a split Democratic field would likely force an August 18 runoff, delaying representation until after Congress returns from recess. Per the Chronicle, that gap could leave the district without a vote during high-stakes votes against Trump’s agenda, including issues relating to Iran and federalizing the midterm elections, one of which failed in the House by a single vote.

“Most of us have either filed to run or were preparing to run in the special election,” says the statement, per Politico. “But we recognize the risk that with this crowded field, no candidate is likely to win 50% + 1.”  

“This would leave the seat vacant at a crucial time when Democrats could stop the Trump agenda from advancing in the House of Representatives,” continues the statement. “And that is a risk that our country can’t afford.”

Voter confusion is also an obvious concern, with a separate race also underway for the full term starting in 2027. That contest includes the June 2 primary with nine candidates, followed by the November general election, running parallel to the special election timeline. And it was already previously reported that the special election for Swalwell's seat was happening in August, not June, but over the last week this June 16 date emerged.

State Senator Aisha Wahab has not signed onto the caretaker plan, telling the Chronicle she has not seen the pledge. Wahab, who represents more than half of Eric Swalwell’s district, has strong name recognition and is already running for the full term in the June 2 primary.

She has backing from the California Democratic Party, Bob Wieckowski, and members of the state’s congressional delegation, including Representatives Robert Garcia, Kevin Mullin, and Lateefah Simon, but a crowded Democratic field is expected to split the vote.

“There is too much at stake for our country,” says the statement, “for any of us to put our personal hopes and ambitions ahead of this important effort to fill this seat with an experienced and reliable Democratic vote in the House.”

Image: Senator Bob Wieckowski; Internet Association/Wikimedia

Maybe this was a strategic decision on her part, but Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez clearly declined to offer an endorsement of Saikat Chakrabarti when asked by a reporter this week about his primary race in SF.

This clip, from reporter Julian Andreone, has gone a bit viral and has over half a million views on Xitter. And it seems to be sort of awkward for everyone, with AOC offering, essentially, a word salad that amounts to "I'm very busy" or "I'm not sure I should be endorsing anyone anywhere" instead of simply throwing her support behind Chakrabarti, who presumably had a fairly close relationship to her.

The non-answer includes the phrases, "I think for me overall, it’s more about, I’m trying to think about the role that I am trying to play more broadly in these things," and "there is this kind of moment where — and not just with this race but with any race, once you go in then it's like 'what about this?' and 'what about this one?'"

You can hear it all below.

Chakrabarti's ads have certainly tried to leverage his ties to AOC and his role in writing the Green New Deal in his campaign ads, and this is his first ever political campaign as a candidate, so one would think AOC would want to give him a leg up?

One commenter on X points out the fact that AOC may want to reserve her endorsement until after the primary, given that there is another progressive in the race, Connie Chan, who has a bunch of labor union support. And/or maybe she doesn't want to throw endorsements around at all — they could, of course, end up working against some progressives in close races where perhaps she doesn't have many fans.

Another commenter says, "Why would she roll out an endorsement to the press when she can do it strategically down the line to give him a bump when it’s most valuable?"

But, also, Chakrabarti may have worked on her campaign back in 2018 and then served on her staff for a few months in 2019 and maybe she doesn't care to endorse him, full stop!

In any event, embarrassing!

Previously: Saikat Chakrabarti's Big Ad Push Puts Him Five Points Behind Wiener In New Poll

The implosion of the political career of Eric Swalwell, following 13 years in Congress, took only three days, and as of Monday afternoon he had announced his resignation from Congress.

Swalwell, who was looking to be the favorite to become the next governor of California, was accused by a former staffer of sexual assault Friday in a story broken by the SF Chronicle, and this was followed by loud calls for him to both drop out of the governor's race and resign his seat in Congress. Swalwell suspended his campaign as of Sunday evening, and announced his resignation from Congress less than 24 hours later.

He writes, in a statement, "I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I made in my past." But, he continued, "I will fight the serious, false allegation made against me," referring to the former staffer's allegations of assault," and said, "I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make."

"I am aware of efforts to bring an immediate expulsion vote against me and other members," his statement continued. "Expelling anyone in Congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made, is wrong. But it's also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties. Therefore, I plan to resign my seat in Congress."

On Monday, the bipartisan House Ethics Committee announced it was launching an investigation into Swalwell, and Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna of Florida introduced a resolution to expel Swalwell immediately, ahead of any investigation.

Swalwell had been shedding allies left and right in the last 72 hours, and as CBS News notes, his colleague and friend Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona said publicly Monday that Swalwell was "no longer fit" to serve in Congress. And, he added, "I trusted someone who I believed was a friend, but it is now clear that he is not the person I thought I knew."

The New York Times reported on Sunday that the expulsion effort against Swalwell was just the latest in a series of similar efforts in the House, with one other targeting a Democrat and two targeting Republicans.

One of those was focused on Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales of Texas, who was accused of coercing a young staffer into a sexual relationship — and that staffer later took her own life. Gonzales also announced his intention to resign from Congress on Monday, as the Times reports.

The chain reaction, largely spurred by the accusations against Swalwell, is likely to impact the fates of Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick [D-Florida], who stands accused in an embezzlement scheme involving campaign funds; and Rep. Cory Mills [R-Florida], who has been accused of an assault on a woman, and whose former girlfriend has accused him of threatening her with revenge porn.

As the Times notes, "In the 237-year history of the US House of Representatives, only six lawmakers have been expelled by a vote of their peers. Three of them were slave-owning supporters of the Confederacy, two were convicted felons, and one was the serial fabulist George Santos."

The timeline for Swalwell's resignation remains unclear, but he said in his statement he would work with staff in the coming days to make sure the needs of his district are met.

Now, instead of facing a primary fight in the governor's race, Swalwell will be replaced in a special election in Alameda County that no one saw coming, likely later this year. And Swalwell is now under investigation in New York and in Alameda County for possible criminal charges.

Previously: Eric Swalwell Suspends Campaign For Governor, Continues to Deny Assault Allegations

Top image: Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA) visits "The Story With Martha MacCallum" at Fox News Channel Studios on July 22, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)

• The current government shutdown is the longest in US history, as Sunday marks the 44th day of the impasse in Congress, with Democrats demanding safeguards on certain immigration enforcement operations before voting for full DHS funding. [NBC]
• SFO workers rallied in a caravan outside the airport in protest of ICE presence at US airports, including the incident last week in which DHS tipped off ICE about a woman and her daughter who were deported. [KPIX]

• Over 3,500 US troops were sent to the Middle East Saturday as the conflict escalates between the US-Israel and Iran, as more than 11,000 targets have been hit since late February. [CBS News]
• A striking video has been going viral of someone soaring high on a swing at Khajeh Atta Beach near the Strait of Hormuz in Iran, against a sky full of smoke from recent drone strikes.⁠ [The Times/Instagram]

• A Silver Alert has been issued for Jesse Fuller, 66, who was last seen Monday in Vallejo and is believed to be on foot. [KRON4]
• Stockton has the highest rate of super-commuters in US cities with more than 200,000 residents, which was 9.2% in 2024, and Modesto is second highest at 8.6%. [Chronicle]

Leanne Maxwell/SFist

Doug LaMalfa, who has represented California's 1st Congressional District for the last 13 years, died suddenly on Monday at the age of 65. No cause of death has been announced, but LaMalfa's death will further constrain Republicans' narrow majority in the House.

Rep. Doug LaMalfa's death was announced on the House GOP's official X account Tuesday morning. "A lifelong resident of Northern California and a fourth-generation rice farmer, Congressman LaMalfa spent more than two decades in public service. He proudly represented California’s 1st Congressional District from 2013 to 2026, serving as Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus," the announcement said.

Born in Oroviille in 1960, LaMalfa attended Cal Poly and received a degree in agricultural business, ultimately taking over his family's rice farm.

LaMalfa was elected to the seat in 2012 following the retirement of longtime Congressman Wally Herger, after previously representing a similar district in northeastern California in the state Senate.

In the state Senate, and earlier in the Assembly, LaMalfa was a fervent supporter of gun rights and advocated in favor Prop 8 and the previous anti-gay-marriage measure, Prop 22.

Redistricting in 2021, along with an influx of more liberal residents in the district, have meant that LaMalfa's tenure in Congress was less secure, and Prop 50 redistricting would also have likely put Republican control of the district in jeopardy in the midterms.

President Trump spoke about LaMalfa's death Tuesday calling him "a great, great, great member" of Congress, and clearly reading from a teleprompter but also trying to pretend like he really knew the guy, he called LaMalfa "a true defender of America's children" and "a defender of everybody," and he spoke about LaMalfa's advocacy in California water fights, "'Release the water!' he'd scream out."

The death leaves a fourth vacancy in the House, and leaves the Republicans with a tight 218-213 majority, meaning that if three Republicans defect or are absent from a party-line vote, they would lose it.

Update: Governor Gavin Newsom, in a statement, called LaMalfa "a devoted public servant who deeply loved his country, his state, and the communities he represented."

"While we often approached issues from different perspectives, he fought every day for the people of California with conviction and care. He will be deeply missed," Newsom said.

Top image: U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) speaks during a hearing at the Heritage Foundation June 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. House Republicans held a hearing to discuss what they are calling “Bidenflation” and “President Joe Biden's energy crisis.” (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

• Congressional candidates, Connie Chan, Saikat Chakrabarti, and Scott Wiener, who are all running for Nancy Pelosi’s old seat, discussed how they’ll address the climate crisis at an event Friday night organized by the popular youth-led climate justice group, Climate Defiance, as part of its national fundraising tour. [Climate Defiance/Instagram]

• Acclaimed comedic actor Dick Van Dyke turned 100 Saturday, which he says is not enough as he plans to live many more years. [KRON4]
• SF-based Reddit is suing the country of Australia over its new ban on social media for kids under 16, explaining that the platform is not a social media site, and the law inhibits free political discourse, as outlined in the country’s constitution. [Engadget]
• The SFPD is asking for the public’s help finding Hank, a French bulldog who was stolen while his owners walked him in the Castro Wednesday night. [KGO]

• Last-minute shoppers: turn your procrastination into an adventure with this lovely, hyperlocal gift guide — all while supporting local artisans and small businesses. [48 Hills]

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

Former San Francisco Mayor London Breed may, indeed, be among the field of candidates vying for Nancy Pelosi's seat in Congress after she retires next year.

London Breed's name has long been in the mix when people have talked hypothetically about Nancy Pelosi's eventual retirement, and the likely candidates who may try to fill her seat. And while Breed lost a reelection campaign last year to Daniel Lurie, SF voters may not mind the idea of sending the native San Franciscan to Congress next year, depending how her and rivals' campaigns go.

Breed confirmed to Politico Friday that she is discussing a possible run with allies, including mentor Willie Brown, thus answering the question of what could be next for the ambitious former mayor.

"I called a couple of people just to see what their thoughts were," Breed tells the site. "My text messages and phone have been ringing off the hook from a lot of people in San Francisco. It’s important that San Franciscans have options. I want to explore whether I could potentially be one of those options."

Should Breed decide to formally announce her candidacy, this could upset the political calculus of state Senator Scott Wiener, who briefly overlapped with Breed on the SF Board of Supervisors in the last decade. And while Wiener may have the advantage when it comes to legislative experience, he would face someone with an equal or greater amount of name recognition in Breed, and someone who could attract a fair amount of popular support — at least among those who don't still blame her for COVID-era street conditions that were arguably not in her control.

The two candidates could also be competing for the same deep-pocketed donors.

With the largely unknown, 39-year-old Saikat Chakrabarti the only other candidate we know of for the seat, so far, it could conceivably become a three-way, two moderates-and-a-progressive race by the time we get to primary season next spring. Though the other potential names we could see joining the race are Pelosi's daughter, Christine Pelosi, seeking to continue her family's political dynasty; and another progressive, SF Supervisor Connie Chan.

Wiener announced his candidacy two weeks ago, jumping out ahead of what he likely knew was Pelosi's coming retirement announcement, and knowing that he could not afford to let Chakrabarti gain too much ground without his own name being in the mix.

Breed's name was previously floated as a potential candidate to replace the late Senator Dianne Feinstein in the Senate, after Governor Gavin Newsom had pledged to appoint a Black woman to the seat. He fulfilled his pledge with the appointment of Laphonza Butler, who appeared to have agreed to be a placeholder and to not run for a full term in the seat, paving the way for Adam Schiff's ultimate victory.

Breed would likely make a better candidate for the House, however, learning the ropes in the lower chamber first, and representing the city where she was mayor — although Feinstein, herself, skipped that step.

Stay tuned for Breed to make a formal announcement likely in the next couple of weeks, if she's going to do that.

Related: Scott Wiener Formally Announces Run for Congress, Ahead of Any Pelosi Decision

Former Silicon Valley engineer and one-time AOC chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti is lodging a longshot bid for Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat, with a sizable personal fortune, but very little name recognition.

Any intrigue about Nancy Pelosi’s future in Congress generally involves whether she will finally retire after a historic 38 years in the House of Representatives, and whether at that point she will be succeeded by state Senator Scott Wiener or Pelosi’s daughter Christine Pelosi. And it frankly may be time for that conversation, as the elder Nancy Pelosi will be 86 years old at the end of her current term.

But a new political upstart has different ideas. KTVU has a new interview with a Pelosi challenger who has already officially thrown his hat in the ring, 39-year-old Saikat Chakrabarti, former chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. If you want to know how to pronounce his name, and how he excoriates the Democrats’ feckless lack of fight against Donald Trump, check out his NBC News interview below.

"[Pelosi] gave an interview, where [a reporter] asked her point-blank, ‘what did Democrats do wrong,’ and her answer was basically nothing, Democrats don’t need to change," Chakrabarti told KGO. "I really disagree with that."

Chakrabarti was a founding engineer at Stripe, and KPIX described him in March as a “self-made tech centi-millionaire.” But he left the tech racket, and cut his teeth politically as the director of organizing technology in the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. He helped recruit Ocasio-Cortez to run for Congress and served as her campaign manager, and when she won, he served as her chief of staff for about eight months.

So if elected, he'd be sort of like a male member of “The Squad.”

"I think people want to see leadership that’s fighting the current administration," Chakrabarti added to KTVU. “This is the reason there are tens of thousands of people coming to these rallies that Bernie and AOC are doing all over the country."

Though if Chakrabarti is really worth $100 million or more, he might not be the best carrier of a populist economic message. But he’s a young and fresh face, and that personal wealth could be an asset against a powerful fundraiser like Nancy Pelosi.

"She will outraise him," Sonoma State University political science professor David McCuan told KTVU. "She will out-endorse him, she’ll probably even outwork him in some ways, because that’s Nancy Pelosi."

But… she will also be 86 years old. So should Nancy Pelosi be concerned about Saikat Chakrabarti’s campaign?

“I don’t think the Speaker is aware of his campaign,” former Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill told NBC News.

Related: Pelosi Has a 2026 Election Challenger, an AOC Guy Who’s Reportedly Worth At Least $100 Million [SFist]

Image via Saikat for Congress

California's 13th Congressional District has flipped from Republican to Democrat, and with that race settled, we now know that the Republicans yet again hold the slimmest of majorities in the House — 220 seats to Democrats' 215.

Democrat Adam Gray has won the seat by a mere 187 votes at last count, and the Associated Press projected Tuesday that he will win. He beats incumbent Republican John Duarte, following a similarly tight race two years ago in which Duarte prevailed by just 564 votes, as KCRA reports.

Duarte conceded to Gray on Tuesday, as the Turlock Journal reported, with Duarte telling the paper, "I'm a citizen legislator, and I didn't plan on being in Congress forever."

California's 13th District is in the Central Valley and encompasses all of Merced County, as well as most of Madera County, and parts of Stanislaus, San Joaquin, and Fresno counties. The district is 66% Hispanic, with around 784,000 people, and  its current composition is fairly new — the 13th District used to be the one led by Barbara Lee that included Oakland, but it was moved to the Central Valley in 2022 amid redistricting.

With the departures of Matt Gaetz (bye!), Mike Waltz, and Elise Stefanik, the latter two of whom are set to join Trump's cabinet, and special elections to fill their seats months away, the Republican-led House will likely have some bruising fights ahead getting any votes passed until then, and even after those seats are filled.

As ABC News notes, with 217 seats, votes taken when anyone is absent due to illness or any other reason could fall in Democrats' favor. And even if every single congressperson shows up for a given vote, a single Republican member could gum the works and threaten to vote with Democrats, creating a 216-216 tie. Or if even two Republicans abstain, the nays will have it.

Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is of course trying to spin this positively, telling ABC, "Well, just like we do every day here, we've developed an expertise in that. We know how to work with a small majority. That's our custom now. So, yes — do the math. We can, we have nothing to spare. But all of our members know that we talked about that today, as we do constantly, that this is a team effort that we've got to all row in the same direction."

There are also a couple of elderly members on the Democratic side who missed votes last year, and that could happen again, as ABC News notes, giving Republicans a bit more wiggle room until those special elections occur.

Gray, for his part, struck a tone of unity on Tuesday. The Merced native told the Turlock Journal, "As divided as people suggest the country is, I think we all have a lot more in common than we’re given credit for. People do want change, but the change they want is for Congress to get back to solving problems. … They don’t want people yelling and screaming at each other. That’s not the kind of leadership people want. They want a government that works for them."

Well, prepare for some yelling and screaming, Adam, because this Congress is going to be seated in during a no-doubt unhinged second Trump administration, and with a barely-there Republican majority that could be thwarted if Marjorie Taylor Greene wakes up in a bad mood that day. Good luck.

Photo from Adam Gray for Congress via Turlock Journal

Republicans in Congress are expanding their probe of alleged antisemitism in the ranks of higher education to now include UC Berkeley, after a late February lecture was disrupted by protesters.

It’s difficult to take the recent Congressional Republican crusade against antisemitism on college campuses seriously, considering we didn’t hear a peep from these same Republicans over the 2017 “Jews will not replace us” rally in Charlottesville at the University of Virginia campus. (The one where then-President Trump said the demonstrators were “very fine people.”)

But the congressional probes have recently targeted MIT and Harvard for supposedly enabling campus antisemitism, likely in an attempt to drive further wedges into the Israel-Gaza conflict discourse at a time when the activist set is keen to label anyone with an opinion as being either “pro-genocide” or “antisemitic.” Now CNN reports that UC Berkeley is being probed as well, with Congressional Republicans demanding documentation of the university’s responses to alleged antisemitic incidents.

The main incident in question here is a February 26 incident where pro-Palestine protesters shut down a planned lecture by Israeli lawyer Ran Bar-Yoshafat. NBC Bay Area has some video from the incident above, where a window at Zellerbach Playhouse is broken. The Chronicle also had an unsubstantiated report that protesters harassed “a sophomore who tried to attend the event, called him a ‘dirty Jew’ and spat on him.” Though by Berkeley protest standards, we’ve seen far more violent things do down.

It will of course get very little coverage that Bar-Yoshafat did give his rescheduled speech Monday night, and it went off without incident.

But Congressional Republicans, savoring a high-profile takedown of the liberal university, are licking their chops. “We have grave concerns regarding the inadequacy of UC Berkeley’s response to antisemitism on its campus,” Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) says in a letter to the school. “Several recent incidents have been particularly troubling.” Foxx mentions the above-referenced Bar-Yoshafat lecture, and a pattern of pro-Palestine demonstrators blocking Sather Gate.

For their part, UC Berkeley said in a statement to CNN that, “UC Berkeley has long been committed to confronting antisemitism, and to supporting the needs and interests of its Jewish students, faculty, and staff.”

The letter from the House Education and Workforce Committee gives the school until April 2 to produce, in the words of CNN, “reports on antisemitic incidents since early 2021; disciplinary action; minutes from meetings of UC leaders; and information on foreign donations.”

Related: Jewish Group Sues UC Berkeley Law School Over Student Groups' Anti-Zionism Stance [SFist]

Image: BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA - JULY 22: The U.C. Berkeley campus sits empty on July 22, 2020 in Berkeley, California. U.C. Berkeley announced plans on Tuesday to move to online education for the start of the school's fall semester due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Longtime East Bay congressional Representative Barbara Lee was rendered a lame duck by Tuesday’s election results, but Lee’s preferred successor for her House seat, Lateefah Simon, crushed all rivals in Tuesday's primary.

47-year-old Lateefah Simon was elected to the BART Board of Directors in 2016, and became board President in 2020. That is not normally a springboard to running for United States Congress. But Simon has other compelling biographical notes: She is legally blind and always uses public transit, she's a single mother whose husband died of leukemia, and she worked under then-SF DA Kamala Harris in the mid-2000s.

Simon announced she was running for Barbara Lee’s East Bay House of Representatives seat last year, and on Tuesday, Simon overwhelmingly won the primary election for that seat, according to the Bay Area News Group.  

Admittedly, we’ve only got 27% of the vote counted in that race (the numbers have been slightly updated since the above tweet). But Simon has a prohibitive lead (43.7%) over the next two closest challengers, CSU East Bay professor Jennifer Tran (17%) and Alameda  Vice-Mayor Tony Daysog (14.3%). Media outlets called Simon the winner not long after polls closed Tuesday, and she will face either Tran or Daysog in the November 5 general election. All of the candidates are Democrats.

Rep. Barbara Lee, of course, lost the Senate primary Tuesday night, and California law prevents candidates from running for both House and Senate simultaneously. But Lee did a literal handing-of-the-baton to Simon at a Tuesday campaign event.

"I want to be someone who follows in your footsteps, Miss Lee,” Simon said, in remarks captured by KTVU. “I want to make you proud. I want to make the folks, not only of the California's 12th Congressional District proud, I want to make sure that the Shirley Chisholms, Barbara Lees, the women who are sleeping in their cars right outside, the folks who are cleaning hotels, the folks who are struggling and moving towards a moment where they might see asylum; that they know there is someone who is going to continue in the Congress working for them like you have worked for us."

According to the Bay Area News Group, Simon raised substantially more than all of the other candidates ($1 million), and had the endorsement of Governor Gavin Newsom.

This race is for California's 12th Congressional District, which covers Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Albany, Emeryville, Piedmont, and San Leandro.

Barring some wild unforeseen development, Lateefah Simon will handily win this congressional seat in November. And as seen above, she is quite a rhetorical firebrand. Add in that she’s Muslim and a Black woman, and she will likely be painted as a “Squad” member and made a frequent foil by Republicans. So yes, Lateefah Simon will probably face significant GOP attacks in Congress. But that may elevate her status and bring massive, nationwide ActBlue donations from small donors, which might keep her in that seat for quite some time.

Related: BART Director Lateefah Simon Announces Run For Barbara Lee's Seat In Congress [SFist]

Image: Lateefah for Congress

Longtime East Bay Congresswoman Barbara Lee is vacating her seat in the House of Representatives to run for Dianne Feinstein's former Senate seat, and nine candidates are running to replace her.

Most of the candidates are relative political newcomers, except for one: BART director Lateefah Simon, as we previously covered. Simon already has Governor Gavin Newsom’s backing and just snagged the Chronicle Editorial Board’s endorsement on Thursday. The board called the 47-year-old politician-slash-activist the “best” and “obvious” choice for California’s 12th Congressional District, home to over 750,000 people across Alameda County.

Simon, a registered Democrat, is facing six other Democrats and two Republicans. The Chronicle noted that the two other most impressive candidates are vice-mayor of Alameda Tony Daysog (D), who’s also served on the Alameda City Council for about 20 years; and CSU East Bay professor Jennifer Tran (D), who teaches ethnic studies and also serves as the president of the Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce.

The rest include bar owner and teacher Glenn Kaplan (D); nonprofit worker Eric Wilson (D); SF State computer science lecturer Abdur Sikder (D); former U.S. Navy officer Andre Todd (D); electrical engineer Stephen Slauson (R); and retired driving instructor Ned Nuerge (R), per the Mercury News.

But Simon stood above the candidates with a “deep personal and professional understanding of government systems,” according to the Chronicle board, as well as her long history of public service and advocacy. And she’s taken on divisive issues that will surely persist in the district already as BART director, such as supporting both BART police raises and alternative policing programs for the transit system. She also has platforms for solutions for homelessness and anti-recidivism, although she hasn't gotten into many specifics yet.

Per Ballotpedia, the primary among all candidates will take place on March 5, 2024, to determine which two candidates will run in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Lee, one of the most progressive members of Congress who's served 26 years in the House, will no doubt leave a lasting legacy in her former district — which spans Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville, San Leandro, Albany and Piedmont. But her race for Dianne Feinstein’s now-open Senate seat is heating up too: There’s tough competition against Reps. Adam Schiff and Katie Porter.

The latest poll from researchers at USC, CSU Long Beach and Cal Poly Pomona shows Schiff with a commanding lead, winning support from 25 percent of registered voters, with Lee trailing the other main candidates, with just 7 percent. That race on March 5 is likely to be about the fight for second place between Porter and Republican Steve Garvey.

Previously: BART Director Lateefah Simon Announces Run For Barbara Lee's Seat In Congress

Feature image of Barbara Lee via Kimberly White/Getty Images for Demand Justice.