Labor leader Dolores Huerta has announced she’s endorsing Scott Wiener to succeed Nancy Pelosi in the House, which came as a surprise for supporters of Connie Chan, who’s considered the more pro-labor candidate.
As Mission Local reports, labor icon and United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta announced her endorsement Monday of state Senator Scott Wiener in the race for Nancy Pelosi's House seat, catching many of rival Connie Chan's allies off guard. In announcing her decision, Huerta reportedly praised Wiener for backing workers, tenants, immigrant communities, and families struggling with California's affordability crisis.
“He stands with workers fighting for fair treatment, families struggling with an affordability crisis pricing them out of the state they built,” said Huerta, “tenants struggling with rent, and immigrant communities under attack.”
Huerta and Wiener have reportedly worked together on legislation in Sacramento and partnered on labor- and worker-related issues over the years, and while Wiener has secured endorsements from several labor groups, including the National Union of Healthcare Workers and the California Conference of Carpenters, Chan has the backing of over 40 unions and is still widely viewed as the labor candidate, according to Mission Local.
As SFist reported earlier this month, Chan's campaign manager, Rudy Gonzalez, took a leave from leading both the San Francisco Building & Construction Trades Council and the San Francisco Labor Council to run her campaign.
Chan’s campaign had been primarily focused on winning the backing of the United Farm Workers, which endorsed Chan in her 2024 reelection campaign for supervisor, according to Mission Local. Gonzalez said Huerta “was never on my radar” in the congressional race, as she lives in Bakersfield, noting that she and the union make endorsement decisions independently. In the 2024 California Senate primary, Huerta reportedly endorsed Barbara Lee while the United Farm Workers backed Adam Schiff.
Chan’s campaign is reportedly still hoping for a co-endorsement, as Huerta ended up endorsing both London Breed and Aaron Peskin in the 2024 mayoral race after first only supporting Breed. Gonzalez said he plans to send Huerta a list of the dozens of unions endorsing Chan.
“Just to let her know,” Gonzalez said, speaking to Mission Local.
San Francisco Latino Democratic Club President Gabriella Lozano said she hopes Huerta ultimately backs Chan as well, arguing the supervisor's record and personal background align more closely with Huerta's longtime advocacy for immigrant and working-class communities.
Meanwhile, San Francisco Labor Council President Mike Casey, who is now working with a pro-Chan independent expenditure committee, argued that while Huerta is “an incredibly powerful and important voice,” Chan's broad labor coalition remains intact, adding he still hopes Huerta will eventually endorse both candidates, per Mission Local.
“This is the first time, to my knowledge,” Casey noted, “that Dolores has ever endorsed a candidate who was rejected by the California state labor movement and the San Francisco labor movement.”
Related: Connie Chan Hires SF Labor Leader and Pelosi Ally to Head Campaign For Congress
Image: HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, MAY 28, Dolores Huerta leads the crowd in a chant after an on-stage discussion with Connecticut Public's Rachel Iacovone and Latinas in Leadership founder and CEO Marilyn Alverio at the Latinas in Leadership Symposium at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, Connecticut on May 28, 2026. Huerta, who's 96 and was prolific labor leader and activist for seven decades, was given the organization's Living Legend Award. (Ryan Caron King/Connecticut Public via Getty Images)
