Well this is an unexpected turn of events. Christine Pelosi, the daughter of Nancy Pelosi, will not run to take over her mother's seat in the House of Representatives in 2026, as was widely speculated.
Instead, maybe in an act of deference to state Senator Scott Wiener or in an acknowledgement of her own political inexperience, the 59-year-old Pelosi says she will run to take over Wiener's seat in the state Senate — a seat that SF Supervisor Rafael Mandelman is also considering running for, and that Assemblyman Matt Haney will also be vying for.
"I’m running to represent San Francisco in Sacramento, fighting for consumer rights, women’s rights, gun violence survivors, immigrants and our most vulnerable communities, against the threat we face," Pelosi said in her first campaign video, posted Moday to Xitter. "What do we do when our freedoms are under attack? We speak up, we fight back and we organize power for the people, and that’s what I want to do for you."
In courtrooms, campaigns and corridors of power, I’ve fought to build Power For The People. And that’s why I’m running for California Senate. pic.twitter.com/jncXmCCx6l
— Christine Pelosi (@sfpelosi) November 10, 2025
Wiener's seat, should he be elected next year to fill Nancy Pelosi's seat in Congress, would become vacant as of January 2027, but otherwise he is not up for reelection until 2028.
This also leaves the elder Pelosi's endorsement up for grabs in the congressional race, with the chatter so far being that she could endorse SF Supervisor Connie Chan, should Chan decide to run for the seat.
But the move by her daughter, announcing a run for state Senate, could reveal a different calculus. Christine Pelosi only gets to run for the state legislature if Wiener moves on to higher office. So, if Nancy Pelosi were to endorse Wiener, that might give him a leg up, and, in turn, increase the chances her daughter can vie for his seat.
Wiener announced his candidacy last month, two weeks ahead of the elder Pelosi's retirement announcement, which he may or may not have known was coming.
The other candidate officially in the race is progressive newcomer and tech millionaire Saikat Chakrabarti, who worked as a campaign manager for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. And, on Friday, we learned that former SF Mayor London Breed is strongly considering running for the seat as well.
As for the state Senate seat, political consultant Jim Ross tells the Chronicle that Christine Pelosi's candidacy effectively "clears the field of the establishment left," meaning that Mandelman and Haney had likely better be looking for a Plan B.
Pelosi is an attorney and longtime Democratic Party activist.
