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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Voters in Pelosi\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know and love this district. I know the Congress, and I know Connie,\u201d Pelosi says in a short video, in which she is seated alongside Chan with the image of the Golden Gate Bridge behind them. \u201cI\u2019m proud to endorse Democrat Connie Chan and ask you to join me in electing her to Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pelosi\u2019s 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\u2019s most successful fundraisers, and Chan is expected to benefit from her fundraising network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chan waited for Pelosi to announce her retirement before she announced her bid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI 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,\u201d Chan, 47, who was born in Hong Kong, said in a statement. \u201cToday, to be endorsed by Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi to follow her in Congress \u2014 I know that is true. That\u2019s San Francisco and that is the city we are fighting for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chan has served on the Board of Supervisors since 2021 and is chair of the Budget Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s state Senate seat rather than try to follow in her mother\u2019s footsteps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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, \u201cIt isn\u2019t my current plan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With her full-throated endorsement of Chan, it was clear Pelosi\u2019s plans had changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe past six months have given San Franciscans the opportunity to hear candidates for Congress make their case for the future of our city and our country. I have been watching this race closely with all of you \u2014 and I believe one candidate stands above the rest,\u201d Pelosi will say in a two-minute endorsement video set for release on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cConnie Chan is the leader best prepared to carry forward the fight for San Francisco in the Congress of the United States,\u201d Pelosi will say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chakrabarti downplayed Pelosi\u2019s announcement, saying he didn\u2019t want support from the Democratic establishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI 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,\u201d Chakrabarti posted on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur strategy has never been to win the endorsements of the establishment I\u2019m running against\u2014it\u2019s been to win the votes of people directly. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve built the largest field operation in San Francisco history,\u201d he continued. \u201cPeople aren\u2019t showing up just because of me. They\u2019re showing up because they are sick and tired of a broken status quo and believe a better future is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n