SAN FRANCISCO — Nancy Pelosi, who has come under increasing pressure from fellow Democrats here to retire, will make an announcement about her plans after California’s election on a redistricting measure early next month, according to an adviser.
And if Pelosi, who is 85, does leave office, she has been publicly elevating one Democrat who could run to succeed her: San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan — who has emerged as a progressive force inside City Hall and who, much like Pelosi, is closely aligned with the city’s powerful labor movement.
At last weekend’s “No Kings” protest in downtown San Francisco, Chan was the only local elected official to speak alongside Pelosi at a related labor event to rally support for Democrats’ gerrymandering proposal. The two posed together for photos at a union hall surrounded by dozens of workers. Many local political observers interpreted the event as an indicator of Pelosi’s thinking — especially after Chan’s reelection fight last year, when she narrowly defeated a moderate challenger with the help of Pelosi’s endorsement and union money.
Other Democrats are more openly moving in to challenge Pelosi. Scott Wiener, a prominent state senator, is expected to launch his campaign today. Some tech powerbrokers have discussed attempting to draft someone else to run, even former Mayor London Breed, who in her losing campaign to now-Mayor Daniel Lurie was able to coalesce many of the city’s top donors.
Pelosi’s office declined to comment on Chan or Wiener, and she hasn’t said whether she plans to run for another term in 2026. But speculation about her future has swirled in recent days after Wiener told allies he will challenge Pelosi if she runs for reelection next year.
The move by Wiener, a moderate Democrat by San Francisco standards, set off a scramble in city political circles, with labor unions and progressive forces at odds with Wiener rushing to find another Pelosi successor, should she decide not to run for reelection.
Chan has told supporters in recent days that she is seriously considering running for the seat — but only if Pelosi leaves office — according to two allies who were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations.
Robyn Burke, a spokesperson for Chan, declined to comment beyond voicing her support for Pelosi: “She supports Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi for Congress.”
The Pelosi adviser, who was granted anonymity to discuss her timing, said the former speaker will announce her plans after a Nov. 4 special election on a congressional redistricting ballot measure, an effort to help Democrats retake the House and blunt President Donald Trump’s grip on power in Washington.
“(Redistricting) is everything to us,” Pelosi recently told The San Francisco Examiner. “There’s a lot riding on this because this is the path to our winning the House.”
The questions about Pelosi’s political future have consumed San Francisco, which she has represented since 1987, and underscored a broader moment of uncertainty and transition for California’s political order. The former speaker towers over an old guard of long-serving Democratic politicians who face proliferating same-party challenges from a restive younger generation. Democrats are also clamoring to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, a longtime Pelosi ally, who is nearing the final year of his tenure.
But the dam could puncture in a matter of weeks. Pelosi is not the only prominent politician hinting at a major decision after Election Day. Sen. Alex Padilla has deflected questions about a potential run for governor, saying he is focused on Proposition 50, as has billionaire Tom Steyer.
Pelosi already faced a tougher-than-expected primary challenger in Saikat Chakrabarti, a wealthy former tech executive and progressive who formerly worked as chief of staff to New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
If Pelosi retires, other potential contenders for the seat besides Chan include Christine Pelosi, her daughter and a longtime party organizer, and Jane Kim, a former supervisor and director of the left-leaning California Working Families Party. The younger Pelosi did not respond to a request for comment.
Wiener’s entry into the race ahead of any Pelosi announcement — after a yearslong shadow campaign to succeed her — has rankled Pelosi allies and some leaders of the Democratic establishment in the city.
“Whoever runs against Nancy ought to have a real reason, not just their personal ambition,” said former Mayor Willie Brown, a political kingmaker in the city for decades who is close to the former speaker. “I don’t understand the motivation to go after her.”
Wiener is also confronting a tenuous moment in Sacramento, as a looming leadership transition in the state Senate is likely to cost him a powerful committee chairmanship and diminish his influence. Wiener has been one of California’s most prolific state lawmakers, passing major bills on housing and artificial intelligence this year.
Wiener allies have said he’s primarily eager to launch his campaign now to start fundraising, noting Chakrabarti has poured $700,000 into the race.
The state senator’s campaign declined to comment. But former City Supervisor Bevan Dufty, a longtime Wiener supporter, said he was in a “very difficult” position waiting for Pelosi to announce whether she plans to run while Chakrabarti’s campaign gains momentum.
“There was not an easy way to do this, but I think there has to be some recognition that there is a self-funded candidate,” Dufty said. “He doesn’t really have a lot of choice with this outside candidate coming in.”
