State lawmaker Wiener to run for seat held by Pelosi

State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), one of California’s fiercest critics of President Trump, will run for the congressional seat held by former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

- DAKOTA SMITH AND SEEMA MEHTA

STATE SEN. Scott Wiener will run for Congress.

A longtime associate of Wiener’s told The Times that the state legislator recently told him he planned to run for Pelosi’s seat in 2026. Several San Francisco elected officials will announce their support for Wiener at his campaign launch, according to the person, who asked for anonymity to speak candidly.

Erik Mebust, a spokesperson for Wiener, declined to comment.

News of Wiener’s campaign was first reported by the San Francisco Standard. The news outlet said Wiener will make a formal announcement next week.

Wiener, 55, has already declared his intention to eventually run for the seat held by Pelosi and has raised $1 million through an exploratory committee. But he previously indicated that he would wait until Pelosi, who was first elected in 1987, stepped down.

That calculus changed, according to the Standard, when tech executive Saikat Chakrabarti, a progressive candidate who oversaw New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s successful 2018 campaign for Congress, entered the race for Pelosi’s seat.

STATE SEN. Scott Wiener, seen in 2013, has declared his intention to run for the seat held by Rep. Nancy Pelosi and has raised $1 million.