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Between the time I was living in Amsterdam and when I loved to Los Angeles, my home, for the better part of a decade, was San Francisco. The city will always be close to my heart, a part of me. So I was thrilled on Wednesday when I found out that former AOC campaign manager and chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti is running for Congress there. Although he says he’s running against Nancy Pelosi, I suspect that she’s thinking about retiring and leaving her seat— like a treasured piece of jewelry, to her daughter. If she does run, Nancy would be nearly 87 the next time she’d be sworn in. Saikat is 39.
Chakrabarti wrote on Twitter that “Watching Trump and Elon freely unleash chaos in their illegal seizure of government, it’s become clear to me that the Democratic Party needs new leadership. I don’t understand how DC’s Democratic leaders are so paralyzed and unprepared for this moment after living through President Trump’s first term— and after Trump and Elon warned us exactly what they planned to do. I respect what Nancy Pelosi has accomplished in her career, but we are living in a totally different America than the one she knew when she entered politics 45 years ago. In an interview with Ezra Klein after Trump’s victory, Pelosi said the Democrats don’t need to change. I disagree. When Democrats were about to appoint their star communicator— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez— to chair the powerful Oversight committee to hold Trump and his cronies accountable, Pelosi personally intervened to block it.”
When Nancy Pelosi was first elected to Congress, you could buy a home on a single income. A summer job could pay for college. Republicans believed in climate change and respected election results. Now, the things that defined the American Dream— being able to afford health care, education, a home, and raise a family— are impossible for most people. And the Republican Party is overtly conspiratorial and anti-democracy. The Democratic Party needs to stop acting like it's competing against a normal political party that plays by the rules, and it needs a bold vision for how to raise living standards, quality of life and security for all Americans. America is stuck, and Americans want real solutions that are as big as the problems we face.
After a career in tech, I joined the Bernie campaign in 2016 because I wanted to be a part of solving those problems. I launched a project to elect a new generation of leaders, and one of them was Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. After serving as her campaign manger and first chief of staff, I returned to San Francisco where for five years I’ve led a policy think tank that develops comprehensive solutions to the problems that both America and San Francisco face.
Now, I want to bring those solutions to Congress. I’m going to run a very different kind of campaign than most. Instead of spending hours each day doing “call time” with big money donors— I’m going to spend every day talking with voters. I know! What a radical idea!
…In this campaign, I’ll be talking about the problems we need to solve for San Francisco, for America, and also about the future of the Democratic Party— and how it can provide an alternative vision of change from Trump and MAGA. In addition to daily conversations with district residents, I’ll also be holding weekly Zoom calls open to anyone to talk about national issues and the future of the Democratic Party.
I know it might seem it’s a little early to start running. But the fact is, it’s almost impossible to defeat incumbents in our system— even at a time when both Congress and the Democratic Party stand at record-low approval ratings. Winning this campaign will require months of organizing— online and on the street— to connect with every single voter in San Francisco. I’m excited for the work.
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Chakrabarti helped write the original Green New Deal and founded Justice Democrats, which helped draft Rashida, Ilhan and Ayanna. The district he’s running in, one of the most highly educated in the country, has a D+37 PVI. Kamala eviscerated Trump 86.3% to 11.7%. A Democrat will be the winner in 2026. But the stakes aren’t just about one election or one seat— this is about the future of the country. The old ways of doing politics have left too many behind, and the challenges we face demand leaders willing to fight for real change. Chakrabarti represents exactly the kind of leadership the Democratic Party needs: fearless, forward-thinking, and unafraid to challenge the status quo. San Francisco has always been a city of bold ideas and trailblazing leadership. If it truly wants to live up to that legacy, it has an opportunity to do so once again— by electing a new voice ready to meet this moment. This is exactly the kind of district that can— and should— do that.
Just to prove how stupid voters are and have been for 4 decades, they'll prolly re-elect pelo$i again anyway.
If pelo$i drops dead before then, they'd still elect her.
that is, if there ARE elections. doubtful.