CA-11: Connie Chan (D) has a not-so-secret weapon in run for Congress: Being Chinese

[RandySF]

DISCLOSURE: I intend to vote for Connie Chan in the June primary.


On a cold December morning, Supervisor Connie Chan walked through Chinatown, stopping to greet shop owners and residents. In Cantonese, she told them she is “ging syoon gwok wui” — running for Congress.

The response was immediate, and mostly warm.

After Chan visited New Asia Supermarket, she stopped outside to film a social media video (opens in new tab), highlighting the plan to increase housing development in the neighborhood. The grocer’s owner, Hon So, appeared excited about her candidacy. “We’ll definitely support her,” he told The Standard in Cantonese. “We’re not just looking forward to it — we’re hoping for it.”

Chan, a Chinese immigrant who moved to San Francisco as a teenager, is running in a competitive race to replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi, whose retirement after four decades in Congress has opened a once-in-a-generation opportunity. The leading candidates — Chan, state Sen. Scott Wiener, and tech founder and former congressional staffer Saikat Chakrabarti — are scrambling to build coalitions that can lift them into the top two spots in June’s primary, letting them advance to the general election.


https://sfstandard.com/2026/01/19/connie-chan-congress-race-chinese/