Christine Pelosi opts for state Senate over Congress seat

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Despite speculation to the contrary, Christine Pelosi will not be jumping into the race to succeed her mother. The younger Pelosi announced on Monday that rather than seeking her esteemed mother’s seat in Congress, she would instead run for California State Senate.

“In courtrooms, campaigns and corridors of power, I’ve fought to build Power For the People. And that’s why I’m running for California Senate,” Pelosi wrote in a post on X, announcing her campaign.

Pelosi, an attorney and Democratic party strategist, was on the short-list of possible contenders to replace her mother, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who last week, announced she would not seek re-election. Although she had not entered the race, the younger Pelosi was long viewed as a potential successor to the former speaker.

Now, instead she will mount a run for the state Senate seat currently held by someone who is in the running for Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat, State Sen. Scott Wiener. Wiener is one of two declared candidates running for Pelosi’s seat, along with progressive tech entrepreneur, Saikat Chakrabarti.

“As a San Francisco prosecutor, women’s rights attorney and elected women’s leader, I’ve fought for victims of sexual violence and domestic violence, gun violence survivors, patients and immigrants,” Christine said in a message on her campaign website.

“I’ve fought the boys club and against the culture of sexual harassment and abuse, bullying, and racial and anti-LGBTQ discrimination way too common in politics,” continued the younger Pelosi, who worked for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Clinton administration.

San Francisco’s State Senate seat won’t technically be open until 2028, unless Wiener wins Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat in 2026, in which case he’d be forced to step down early.

San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman is also reportedly eyeing a run for San Francisco’s state Senate seat.