Pelosi Succession Brawl Splits Delegation

SAN FRANCISCO — Members of California’s congressional delegation and top Democratic donors are getting dragged into San Francisco’s bitter race to succeed Nancy Pelosi — a contest dividing party leaders far beyond the city.

Tensions have escalated as Pelosi pours resources into electing her favored successor, Supervisor Connie Chan, and publicly attacking her opponent, state Sen. Scott Wiener. Meanwhile, Wiener is turning his fire on Pelosi and other top Democrats backing Chan.

In recent days, Wiener’s campaign attacked Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna after he campaigned with Chan at a union hall in the city. Joe Arellano, Wiener’s spokesperson, responded by promoting a New York Times article that identified Khanna and Pelosi as the most prolific stock traders in Congress. He added, “Working families don’t trade stock thousands of times.”

Khanna shot back, accusing Wiener of “echoing false right-wing attacks on Speaker Pelosi for over a year.” He added, “It’s an odd strategy to launch character attacks on the most successful speaker in a generation and expect to succeed her.”

And that’s after Wiener’s comments criticizing Pelosi for opposing his 2024 legislation to create AI-safety guardrails and another instance where he alleged that the former House speaker “has basically taken over Connie’s campaign.”

Arellano disputed Khanna’s assertion that Wiener has personally attacked Pelosi, saying, “Talking about congressional stock trading and the need for AI safety regulation aren’t ’right-wing attacks.’”

But it is quickly becoming a left-on-left slugfest — with Pelosi at the center of much of the brawling.

Pelosi has used her connections on Capitol Hill and fundraising Rolodex to push numerous Democratic lawmakers and donors to support Chan, according to three people familiar with the calls who were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. “Nancy, when she gets her mind on something, she is relentless,” said a prominent Bay Area Democrat who’s neutral in the race.

And Pelosi has put pressure on Wiener more directly: She recently led a group of Democrats, including seven other women in Congress, to sign onto a letter publicly condemning Wiener for using an AI chatbot to mimic Chan, which the women alleged reinforced racist and sexist tropes. (Wiener later took the chatbot down, though he disputed the allegation of sexism and racism.)

Then there was the incident when Pelosi called civil-rights icon Dolores Huerta and urged her unsuccessfully to pull back her sole endorsement of Wiener.

Susie Tompkins Buell, one of the party’s most prolific donors who supports Wiener, recently accused Pelosi of using her clout to pressure top Democrats to endorse Chan.

"I have spoken to people that have said, ‘She called me and I had to say yes,’” Tompkins Buell told Playbook. “This is the way she operates. She's used to it. She's been very successful being this way.”

But at least two Democratic lawmakers who’ve endorsed Chan, Southern California Reps. Julia Brownley and Judy Chu, told Playbook they endorsed Chan on their own accord — noting Chan has the support of groups they work with to expand female and Asian American representation in the House.

Both Chu and Brownley signed onto the letter condemning Wiener’s AI chatbot. Chu added, “I was horrified by this AI (bot) that he put out that impersonated Connie and generated racist and sexist content.”

Chan’s supporters also include Sen. Adam Schiff and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, two of Pelosi’s closest allies, as well as former Sen. Barbara Boxer and Reps. Jared Huffman, Norma Torres and Derek Tran. Wiener’s backers include Reps. Robert Garcia, Laura Friedman, Josh Harder, Sam Liccardo and Scott Peters.

Ian Krager, a spokesperson for Chan’s campaign, dismissed reporting about Pelosi whipping support as “baseless gossip from Scott Wiener’s wealthy donors and flailing campaign.” He added, “Clearly, it’s hard for Wiener and his campaign to process the reality that he isn’t universally beloved by all Democrats the way he is by billionaires, Big Tech and corporate PACs.”

Wiener, meanwhile, has attempted to thread a needle by praising Pelosi’s record while touting himself as the "anti-establishment" candidate in the race — a maneuver on display at a “Women for Scott” rally he hosted last weekend.

"She is the most successful, and impactful, and consequential member of Congress in the modern era. Full stop,” Wiener said. A few moments later, he added, “This seat in Congress ... does not belong to any one individual who gets to decide who occupies it. It doesn't belong to insiders.”

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