SAN FRANCISCO — As longtime U.S. House Rep. Nancy Pelosi heads into retirement, a slew of candidates are battling it out to replace the influential congresswoman.

Of the 11 on the June 2 ballot, three of the more prominent contenders for San Francisco’s 11th Congressional District who have reported raising the most money include state Sen. Scott Wiener, San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan and former tech engineer Saikat Chakrabarti.

Pelosi has not endorsed any candidate.

Wiener, 56, entered the race in October 2025, prior to when Pelosi’s retirement plans were made public.

“People want representation in Congress by someone who is going to fight (Donald) Trump and authoritarianism,” Wiener told the Bay Area News Group. “They want someone who’s going to fight for the things they care about and a proven track record of getting things done.”

Should he be elected, Wiener said his priorities would include reversing Trump administration cuts to public services such as Medicaid and education, funding food assistance programs, and bulking up federal protections for members of the LGBTQ community.

He said other issues he wants to tackle include abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, distancing connections between the president and the Department of Homeland Security, and amending federal laws to allow people to sue ICE for civil rights violations.

While in the state Senate, Wiener authored a bill that allowed the five-county transit tax bailout proposal to reach the ballot this November. He also has gotten multiple pro-housing bills passed into law and helped to expand rights for transgender people.

“Fundamentally, I’m the only candidate with experience delivering and getting things done,” Wiener said.

His campaign reported raising more than $3.5 million between Jan. 1 and March 31. He spent almost $900,000.

For months, Wiener has clashed with protesters and competitors over supposed pro-Israel donors who gave tens of thousands of dollars to his campaign with alleged ties to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.

The committee has been targeted by some progressives who see it as a way for Israel to have increased influence over American policy. But the senator, who is Jewish, has publicly denounced Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza as a “genocide.”

He called criticism over his donors “antisemitic.”

“They’re collecting lists of my Jewish donors and looking to see if they have connections to anything regarding giving to Israel,” Wiener said.

Chan, 47, currently represents District 1 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She was first elected in 2020 and won reelection in 2024. Born in Hong Kong, she arrived in San Francisco with her family at 13 years old.

If elected, Chan said she will fight for Medicare for All, expand access to affordable childcare and will act to reverse Trump administration cuts to education and healthcare. She said she will fight for immigrant rights and protections against ICE, and wants to protect birthright citizenship.

Chan said she wants to expand funding for kindergarten through 12th-grade schools, and expand funding for free city college in San Francisco.

She reported raising $458,767.10 between Jan. 1 and March 31, and spent $302,161.08. She had $156,606.02 left on hand heading into April.

“If we can beat back the billionaires and their corporate PACS, and if we can beat back the money influence buying elections, I think it will give a lot of courage to other communities in the nation to show that they can do it too,” Chan said.

Noting a significant funding gap compared to Wiener and Chakrabarti, she said going up against wealthier candidates was one of the reasons why she “jumped in.”

“It didn’t deter us because we know that we’re bringing a voice to this race that hasn’t really been heard. We’re bringing the working people’s voice and the working people’s agenda that really hasn’t been focused,” Chan said. “We’ve got to give the working people a voice in this race. Nobody should be walking into this race without competition.”

A former engineer for South San Francisco tech company Stripe, the 40-year-old Chakrabarti is by far the richest self-funded candidate in the race. His campaign reported over $5.1 million raised between Jan. 1 and March 31, which included $4.82 million of Chakrabarti’s own money. He raised $360,890 in smaller donations in that time and spent over $4.9 million.

He headed into April with about $208,658 left on hand.

Chakrabarti said he is running to “change the politics of Washington.”

“The Democrats are underwater. They’re more unpopular than Donald Trump,” he said.

Chakrabarti started his campaign in February 2025. He has pointed to his experience working as former first chief of staff for New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and as a key staffer in Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 bid for president.

While he has never held an elected office, Chakrabarti has a history of bumping elbows with D.C.’s notable progressive politicians.

Neither Ocasio-Cortez or Sanders has endorsed Chakrabarti, who also co-founded the progressive political action committee Justice Democrats.

“The entire reason I’m running is it’s not going to be sufficient to send someone to D.C. that is just another legislator,” Chakrabarti told this news organization. “We really have to operate in a different way to change what is politically possible in Washington, and that’s what I have experience doing.”

He said if elected he wants to bring about universal healthcare and childcare, as well as free college and trade school options. Chakrabarti also said he wants to build on the previous work of the Green New Deal, which he said he helped Ocasio-Cortez’s office work on, with hopes to pass the largest federal investment in climate change ever.

Other Democrats in the race include rocket scientist John “Gus” Buffle, small business owner Keith Freedman, tech advocate Omed Hamid, civil rights advocate Gregory M. Haynes, and attorney Marie Hurabiell.

The two Republicans on the ballot include Santa Monica Observer publisher David Ganezer and Jingchao Xiong, a social management scientist. The sole independent candidate is Nathan Deer, a home owners association treasurer.

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