San Francisco voters will choose a successor to Rep. Nancy Pelosi Tuesday, Nov. 3, deciding between two Democrats whose approaches differ on housing affordability, corporate influence and regulating artificial intelligence.
State Sen. Scott Weiner and San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan are competing for California’s 11th Congressional District after advancing from the June primary. The election will determine who represents the district after nearly four decades of Pelosi’s tenure. In an October USC Democracy and Fair Elections Lab poll, Wiener held a narrow lead despite Pelosi’s endorsement of Chan.
“The fact that she’s been in power for so long, and she’s endorsing a candidate, and the fact that the candidate race is actually going to go in the opposite favor, I think says a lot about the constituents’ favor of her opinion,” said Will Wong, a senior business major at USC.
Pelosi first entered Congress in 1987, according to the House’s historical biography. She became the first woman elected House Speaker in 2007 and led House Democrats for 20 years, playing a large role in passing the Affordable Care Act and the American Rescue Plan.
Her successor will inherit her congressional seat and begin a new tenure without the decades of seniority that came with Pelosi’s time in office.
With two Democrats on the ballot, the election also gives voters a choice between different policy priorities within the party. California’s top-two primary system advances the two candidates receiving the most votes regardless of the party.
Wiener, first elected to the state Senate in 2016, has emphasized his legislative experience. His Senate biography lists housing, transportation, health care and LGBTQ rights among his priorities. Chan, who represents the Richmond District on the Board of Supervisors, is campaigning on a Working People’s Plan focused on affordability, the working power and curbing corporate influence.
“Both Connie Chan and Scott Weiner portray themselves as the progressive candidate, but they’ve also sort of thrown dark money allegations at each other,” says USC freshman international relations major Brady Kawahara.
A USC Democracy and Fair Elections Lab Poll released Oct. 22 found Wiener supported by 47% of likely voters and Chan by 41%, with 9% undecided and 3% not planning to vote in the congressional contest. The survey, led by USC political science and public policy professor Christian Grose, polled 454 likely voters Oct.16-19.
The survey reported a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points. In an interview with Annenberg Media, Grose said the results suggest Wiener is more likely to win, while leaving open the possibility of a Chan victory.
When initially undecided respondents were asked to choose a candidate, Wiener’s support rose to 51% and Chan’s to 44%, with 5% saying they did not plan to vote in the contest, according to the poll. Grose said some remaining undecided voters were Republicans and independents.
Pelosi remains popular in the district: the poll found 55% approval and 32% disapproval. Grose said her endorsement may have strengthened Chan’s position even though Weiner remained ahead in the survey.
“Chan would probably be losing by more if Nancy Pelosi had not endorsed her,” Grose said.
Grose stated that voters tend to view Chan as the more progressive candidate, while some see Wiener as somewhat liberal or moderate by San Francisco standards. He suggested that Wiener’s narrow advantage may reflect closer alignment with some voters’ policy preferences.
For Grose, the contest also tests which part of the Democratic coalition can prevail in a deeply liberal district.
“It’s possible for somebody who’s on the left, but maybe not the far left, to win, even in a place like San Francisco,” Grose said.
The candidates’ differing approaches are particularly visible on the topic of housing. According to Wiener’s campaign platform, he proposes building 8 million homes nationally over a decade through regulatory changes and federal investment. He also plans to include mixed-income social housing, expanded affordable housing tax credits and incentives for local governments that deliver new homes.
On the housing topic, Chan has emphasized affordability requirements and preventing displacement. In separate interviews with ABC7, she supported federal investment in rental assistance, first-time homebuyer programs and housing construction, while stressing the need to help the existing residents remain housed.
“The big issue of that constituency is affordable housing, and basically it boils down to which candidate you believe is better for affordable housing, which is kind of a hard and very weirdly technical issue to be focused on,” Kawahara said.
Both candidates support Medicaid for All and reversing federal Medicaid cuts, according to the ABC7 interviews. Their views on regulating AI, however, differ. Chan supports a moratorium on new AI data centers until stronger safeguards are established, while Wiener favors federal safety testing, auditing standards, whistleblower protections and a regulator to oversee the industry.
Chan’s campaign also pledges to reject corporate PAC contributions and money from several specified industries and lobbying groups. Wiener’s campaign priorities emphasize expanding policies he has pursued in California, including reducing health care costs and increasing housing construction.
Edited by Ally Nakamura and Scott Hills