State Sen. Scott Wiener prepares to run for Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat

State Sen Scott Wiener is officially getting ready to make his next political move filing paperwork to run for Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi s congressional seat but only when the -year-old longtime representative decides to retire Pelosi the former Democratic house speaker has been in Congress for nearly four decades and has been quiet on whether she will seek another term in despite filing the required paperwork late last year A spokesperson for Pelosi declined to comment on Monday on her reelection plans and the state senator s likely candidacy Wiener had previously mentioned he planned to run to represent California s th Congressional District which encompasses a large swath of San Francisco Paperwork filed on Friday indicates he is seeking a bid for the seat though that could be expedited if Pelosi decides not to run next year In a declaration to several news organizations last week Wiener declared I ve been clear that I intend to run for this seat whenever the race opens up whether in or This filing is a critical step to prepare for the serious work of running to succeed one of the icons of American politics Wiener a Democrat first opened up an exploratory committee for the seat in He could not be reached for comment on Monday Before he assumed elected office Wiener worked as an attorney for years spending time in private practice and served as a law clerk for a New Jersey Supreme Court justice and as a deputy city attorney He was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in and easily won reelection in After six years in San Francisco City Hall he ran for his current seat in the California Senate where he represents San Francisco Colma Daly City and parts of South San Francisco and San Bruno Wiener has made a name for himself authoring ambitious housing provision and as a fierce advocate for LGBTQ rights and drug decriminalization He at present serves as the co-chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus and as chair of the Senate Mental Fitness Caucus Whether Pelosi who stepped down from her role as speaker in will run for another term is part of a broader conversation among Democrats who are reckoning with aging party leadership and disillusioned young voters Melissa Michelson a political science professor at Menlo College commented that the argument behind older Democrats like Pelosi or Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer running for reelection is that they re more experienced and have the seniority that might enable them to serve their constituents far more effectively than folks who are new But the other side of the discourse she stated has been punctuated by -year-old Zohran Mamdani s stunning success in the Democratic Party primary for New York City mayor Mamdani a New York State Assemblymember and democratic socialist bested former New York Gov Andrew Cuomo in last week s primary poll largely through his ability to turn out new and young voters and through an economic message that crossed traditional party lines Losing that leadership and that experience will be a huge hit to the Democratic Party Michelson mentioned of Pelosi who she called the most of effective house speaker in modern history But maybe what they gain is someone like Scott Wiener with new ideas who reinvigorates the electorate she added Michelson stated a number of candidates are likely waiting in the wings for Pelosi s seat noting that the easiest way to get into Congress is to wait for an opening instead of challenging a long-seated incumbent When former Rep Anna Eshoo communicated in that she would not seek reelection a crowded field of candidates emerged including specific of Silicon Valley s biggest political names Sam Liccardo the former mayor of San Jose won the seat and was sworn in earlier this year Democratic insiders have long speculated that Pelosi s daughter Christine Pelosi a party organizer will run for the seat when her mother retires Folks with a famous name like a Bush or a Cuomo you re a lot more likely to get elected because people remember the other politician they feel like they know that person and they trust them more Michelson commented But not everyone plans to wait until Pelosi retires Saikat Chakrabarti a former chief of staff for Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez D-NY publicized earlier this year that he plans on challenging the former speaker if she runs for reelection Chakrabarti worked in tech before joining Sen Bernie Sanders presidential campaign He went on to serve as Ocasio-Cortez s campaign manager and her first chief of staff before returning to San Francisco five years ago to start a new political think tank In a February social media post announcing his candidacy Chakrabarti noted that the Democratic Party demands new leadership He cited Pelosi s efforts to block Ocasio-Cortez s anticipated appointment to the powerful oversight committee as one of his reasons for running The Democratic Party necessities to stop acting like it s competing against a normal political party that plays by the rules and it demands a bold vision for how to raise living standards quality of life and precaution for all Americans Chakrabarti wrote in the social media post America is stuck and Americans want real solutions that are as big as the problems we face