Rudy Gonzalez, a longtime trade union leader who’s SF born-and-raised, has been hired to run Connie Chan’s campaign for US Congress, and he says he’ll be frequently reaching out to ally Nancy Pelosi for guidance.

Connie Chan appointed Rudy Gonzalez as her campaign director last month, with Gonzalez calling the role "personal" as someone who grew up in a working-class San Francisco family, as Mission Local reports. In a social media post, Gonzalez described Chan as someone fighting to preserve opportunities for working families and urged San Franciscans to volunteer, donate, and help "build the campaign working people deserve."

“I was born and raised working class in San Francisco. This city raised me,” said Gonzalez. “It taught me what it means to fight for your people, build community, show up, and believe working families deserve more than just surviving here. Right now, the stakes are high.”

Gonzalez's appointment underscores organized labor's investment in the race. According to Mission Local, Gonzalez is taking a leave of absence from his leadership role at the San Francisco Building & Construction Trades Council to run Chan's campaign, a move that longtime union organizer and former Supervisor Gordon Mar said goes well beyond the typical labor endorsement or financial support.

Gonzalez previously led the San Francisco Labor Council, and Mar said his background in union organizing could bring a more disciplined, year-round campaign while helping Chan reach the city's roughly 100,000 union members and their families.

Mission Local reports that the hiring is also notable because Gonzalez comes from the Building Trades, which is historically moderate-leaning and often backs pro-housing candidates like state Senator Scott Wiener. While Wiener has earned support from some construction unions, labor leaders including San Francisco Labor Council president Mike Casey argue that Wiener has divided organized labor by “pitting one set of unions against another.”

Gonzalez, meanwhile, pushed back on the idea that Chan is anti-development, explaining, “We would not support Connie if she was anti-development.”

Gonzalez called leading Chan's campaign "a full circle moment," noting that his mentor, labor organizer Fred Ross Jr, helped shape Nancy Pelosi's first congressional campaign in 1987. Per Mission Local, Gonzalez said he'll regularly seek Pelosi's advice while working to raise money from national unions and win over labor groups that have not yet chosen between Chan and Wiener.

“I’m joining a campaign carried through the primary by everyday San Franciscans,” said Gonzalez on social media, “union members, community leaders, and neighbors who poured their sweat equity into the field because they believe Connie is the fighter San Francisco needs in Congress.”

Related: [Updated] Wiener and Chan Are Headed to the November Ballot For SF's Congressional Seat

Image: Rudy Gonzalez/Facebook