Nancy Pelosi endorses fellow progressive Connie Chan in high-profile race to succeed her

After months of resisting endorsing a successor, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the former House speaker, officially threw her support behind a fellow progressive, San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Connie Chan, on Monday.

Voters in Pelosi’s liberal San Francisco district head to the polls in two weeks to select the top two candidates who will square off in the November general election.

“I know and love this district. I know the Congress, and I know Connie,” Pelosi says in a short video, in which she is seated alongside Chan with the image of the Golden Gate Bridge behind them. “I’m proud to endorse Democrat Connie Chan and ask you to join me in electing her to Congress.”

Pelosi’s endorsement carries significant weight in the race. She has represented San Francisco in Congress for nearly 40 years, she made history as the first female speaker of the House, and she is regarded as a liberal icon. She also is one of the party’s most successful fundraisers, and Chan is expected to benefit from her fundraising network.

San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Connie Chan during a congressional candidates forum in San Francisco in January.Scott Strazzante / San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

Pelosi, 86, said in November that she would not run for re-election. Even before the formal announcement, two high-profile candidates had jumped into the race: state Sen. Scott Weiner and wealthy former tech executive Saikat Chakrabarti, a co-founder of the progressive outside group Justice Democrats, which helped launch Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., to political stardom.

Chan, who emigrated from Hong Kong with her family, waited for Pelosi to announce her retirement before she announced her bid.

“I remember seeing San Francisco for the first time when I was 13 years old. I did not speak a word of English but I had heard this was a sanctuary city where anything was possible,” Chan, 47, said in a statement. “Today, to be endorsed by Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi to follow her in Congress — I know that is true. That’s San Francisco and that is the city we are fighting for.”

Early in her career, Chan was a volunteer Chinese interpreter and a community organizer. In 2006, she began as a legislative aide to then-Board of Supervisors member Sophie Maxwell and later held roles with Kamala Harris when she was the San Francisco district attorney.

Chan has served on the Board of Supervisors since 2021 and is chair of the Budget Committee.

There had been early speculation that Pelosi was grooming her daughter Christine Pelosi to succeed her in Congress. But Christine Pelosi announced she would run for Weiner’s state Senate seat rather than try to follow in her mother’s footsteps.

Nancy Pelosi has been close allies with Chan. But when she was asked in November whether she was preparing to endorse a successor, she told NBC News, “It isn’t my current plan.”

With her full-throated endorsement of Chan, it was clear Pelosi’s plans had changed.

Chakrabarti downplayed Pelosi’s announcement, saying he didn’t want support from the Democratic establishment.

“I decided to run for Congress last year against Nancy Pelosi because I know that we need a new generation of leadership to do more than just stop Trump. We need to deliver on a vision for a fundamentally better life for ALL,” Chakrabarti posted on X.

“Our strategy has never been to win the endorsements of the establishment I’m running against—it’s been to win the votes of people directly. That’s why we’ve built the largest field operation in San Francisco history,” he continued. “People aren’t showing up just because of me. They’re showing up because they are sick and tired of a broken status quo and believe a better future is possible.”