Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, could announce her retirement in the coming weeks, according to numerous reports.
And Democrats have wasted no time pouncing on the opportunity to replace her.
The only problem? The top candidate vying for Pelosi’s job could be crazier than she is.
California State Senator Scott Wiener announced his candidacy Wednesday just hours after Politico reported that Pelosi may announce her retirement soon after California votes on a controversial redistricting proposal.
Wiener, considered by many one of the most outspoken leftist members of the California State Legislature, did not name Pelosi in his campaign launch video, leaving many to speculate that he’s gunning for her seat.
Wiener recently told allies he will challenge Pelosi if she runs for reelection next year, according to Politico.
“My family escaped fascism in Europe. I never thought the United States would slip into fascism like we’re seeing today,” Wiener said. “San Francisco has always been on the right side of history.”
“Join me now, before everything we believe in is lost for good,” he continued.
Some of the major campaign points on Wiener’s campaign website include transgender issues and countering the Trump administration’s deportation of illegal immigrants.
“He authored the nation’s first LGBTQ refuge law, and expanded privacy protections to prevent harassment and targeting against transgender and nonbinary people. As Senate Budget Chair, he secured $15 million in state funds to cover gender affirming healthcare that Trump is attempting to cut from Medicaid,” his website boasts. Wiener’s campaign logo also features a pride flag.
“When masked agents began disappearing people off the street in San Francisco, he passed first of its kind legislation to unmask them. In Congress, he will lead the charge to protect our immigrant neighbors and get ICE OUT OF CALIFORNIA!!!,” Wiener’s site says about illegal immigration.
However, Pelosi herself has seemingly cozied up to another Democrat that could replace her: San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan.
Chan has emerged as a far-Left force within San Francisco, much like Pelosi, and is closely aligned with the city’s powerful Democratic establishment and union bosses.
At last weekend’s “No Kings” protest in downtown San Francisco, Chan was the only local elected official to speak alongside Pelosi at a related union event to rally support for Democrats’ gerrymandering proposal.
The two posed together for photos at a union hall surrounded by dozens of workers.
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Many local political observers said the event was Pelosi passing the baton to Chan, who narrowly defeated a moderate challenger recently with the help of Pelosi’s endorsement and union connections.
Despite the retirement and succession rumors, Pelosi continues to emphasize the need for Democrats to be laser-focused on winning back the House in November 2026.
“Here’s the thing. We must win the House,” she told the San Francisco Examiner in an interview published on Oct. 18.
“If you talk about ‘no kings,’ we must win the House to put a stop to this. We won’t be able to get many things done, but we’ll be able to stop a lot of the poison that he’s putting there, and the best antidote to poison is to win the election.”