London Breed Confirms She Is Thinking of Running for Pelosi's House Seat

"Breed confirmed to Politico Friday that she is discussing a possible run with allies, including mentor Willie Brown, thus answering the question of what could be next for the ambitious former mayor. "I called a couple of people just to see what their thoughts were," Breed tells the site. "My text messages and phone have been ringing off the hook from a lot of people in San Francisco. It's important that San Franciscans have options. I want to explore whether I could potentially be one of those options.""

"Should Breed decide to formally announce her candidacy, this could upset the political calculus of state Senator Scott Wiener, who briefly overlapped with Breed on the SF Board of Supervisors in the last decade. And while Wiener may have the advantage when it comes to legislative experience, he would face someone with an equal or greater amount of name recognition in Breed, and someone who could attract a fair amount of popular support at least among those who don't still blame her for COVID-era street conditions that were arguably not in her control."

"The two candidates could also be competing for the same deep-pocketed donors. With the largely unknown, 39-year-old Saikat Chakrabarti the only other candidate we know of for the seat, so far, it could conceivably become a three-way, two moderates-and-a-progressive race by the time we get to primary season next spring."

London Breed is exploring a possible run for Nancy Pelosi's congressional seat after Pelosi retires next year. Breed has discussed the idea with allies and mentor Willie Brown and reports many supportive messages from San Franciscans. Breed lost a mayoral reelection last year to Daniel Lurie but retains strong name recognition and potential popular support. A formal candidacy could alter the dynamics with state Senator Scott Wiener, who has legislative experience and overlapping local service. The potential field includes Saikat Chakrabarti, making a three-way race between two moderates and a progressive conceivable. Competing candidates may pursue the same deep-pocketed donors.

Read at sfist.com