With one day left before the primary election, leading candidates vying to succeed House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi are making their final appeals to voters in California’s 11th Congressional District.
The race marks the first truly competitive contest for the seat in nearly four decades, following Pelosi’s decision to retire at the end of her term.
Eleven candidates have entered the race, though most polls show three separating from the field: State Sen. Scott Wiener, San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan, and former technology executive Saikat Chakrabarti.
San Francisco election officials reported voter turnout at approximately 17% as of Saturday, leaving a large number of ballots still outstanding heading into Tuesday’s primary.
Polls consistently show Wiener holding a significant lead, aided by high name recognition built over years in local and state politics, though he is generally considered more moderate than the other two leading candidates.
“Everyone in this race talks about affordability. I’m the only one who’s actually delivered on affordability,” Wiener said.
Wiener pointed to his tenure as a former San Francisco supervisor and current state senator, arguing he had advanced policies making housing and healthcare more affordable for residents.
“Because of my work, San Francisco went from being by far the slowest city to permit new homes to one of the fastest,” he said.
Chakrabarti, a progressive candidate who made his wealth in the technology industry and is largely self-funding his campaign, has centered his platform on housing affordability and keeping San Franciscans from being priced out of the city.
“The centerpiece of my housing plan is creating a federal financing entity that can directly provide low-cost loans to make sure affordable housing actually gets built,” Chakrabarti said, adding that the entity could “spin off public developers to build the housing if private markets won’t do it.”
Chakrabarti also called for doubling rental vouchers, federal support for tenants’ unions, and a ban on private equity and hedge funds purchasing single-family homes.
Chan has gained momentum in recent weeks, securing endorsements from Pelosi herself and U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff as the primary approaches.
Like her opponents, Chan identifies housing affordability as one of the district’s most pressing concerns and supports Proposition D, known as the “Billionaires’ Tax,” calling for similar policies at the federal level.
“Healthcare, we’ve got to be able to expand healthcare and coverage and lower the costs of medication,” Chan said, also calling for affordable childcare, fully funded K-12 classrooms, and free city colleges across the nation.
Political observers said Wiener appears likely to secure the top spot, with the more competitive battle shaping up to be for second place between Chan and Chakrabarti.
Under California’s top-two primary system, the two candidates receiving the most votes, regardless of party affiliation, will advance to the general election in November.
With a large number of ballots still outstanding, the final outcome remains uncertain as all three leading contenders continue making their case to voters until the end.
