SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — Congressional candidate Saikat Chakrabarti is emphasizing his grassroots campaign strategy following former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s endorsement of San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan in the race for California’s 11th Congressional District, with the primary just days away.
Pelosi announced her support for Chan on May 18, just two weeks before the June 2 primary election. In a video shared by both campaigns, Pelosi said: “I know and love this district, I know the Congress and I know Connie,” adding that she was proud to endorse Chan and asking voters to join her in electing her to Congress.
The seat became open after Pelosi, who has held it since 1987, announced she would not seek re-election. Chakrabarti, Connie Chan, and state Sen. Scott Wiener have led the field in fundraising, endorsements, and local media attention.
Chakrabarti responded to the endorsement by reaffirming his campaign’s focus on direct voter outreach. “Our strategy has never been to win the endorsements of the establishment I’m running against — it’s been to win the votes of people directly,” he said, adding that volunteers have knocked on nearly half a million doors and held hundreds of rallies and town halls across San Francisco.
Chakrabarti, a former software engineer and early employee at Stripe, studied computer science at Harvard and is the son of Indian immigrants. He previously co-founded Justice Democrats, managed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s 2018 upset campaign, and served as her chief of staff, where he helped launch the Green New Deal.
A poll conducted by Data for Progress and commissioned by Chakrabarti’s campaign in April found Wiener leading at 33 percent, with Chakrabarti at 28 percent and Chan at 13 percent. Analysts have suggested Pelosi’s endorsement could push Chan into second place, potentially displacing Chakrabarti from the top-two spots that advance to the November general election.
As of the end of March, Wiener’s campaign had more than $2.6 million on hand, while Chakrabarti’s campaign had received over $360,000 in contributions and a personal loan of more than $4.8 million from the candidate himself. Chan’s fundraising had significantly trailed both, though Pelosi’s backing is expected to bolster her financial position given the former speaker’s extensive donor network.
Political observers note that despite the late timing of the endorsement, it may still carry weight — only about 25,000 of the 533,000 ballots mailed to San Francisco voters had been returned as of the endorsement date.
The race has emerged as a microcosm of broader Democratic divisions over affordability, how to respond to the Trump administration, and issues including artificial intelligence and U.S. policy toward Israel. The top two vote-getters in the June 2 open primary will advance to the November general election, regardless of party affiliation. The district is rated safe Democratic by major forecasters.
