Haney vs. Pelosi 2027: Race for Wiener’s state Senate seat firms up

Did someone forward you this email? Sign up here.

Hello and welcome back to Capitol Confidential! 

We made it past election week! But don’t get too comfortable – we’ve got a special election to gear up for early next year. More on that in today’s lead story.

The special election to fill state Sen. Scott Wiener’s seat is already heating up.

We may not yet know when, exactly, the special election for state Senate District 11 will be held, but we do know who will duke it out for the deep-blue seat: Get ready for Christine Pelosi vs. Matt Haney. 

Wiener won a bruising battle against San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan for the House seat that has for decades been held by Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. For years, rumors had swirled that Christine Pelosi was eyeing her mother’s seat. But she announced last year that she’d instead seek Wiener’s state Senate seat in 2028, when he’d be termed out.

Haney, a Democratic Assembly member representing San Francisco, confirmed last week that he’ll be making a go for the seat. Not long after, Wiener endorsed him. 

“I’m proud to have the endorsement of Congressman-elect Scott Wiener, who has been a partner in the Legislature and knows who is best positioned to get things done,” Haney said in a statement to Capitol Confidential. 

The show of support for Haney comes after Nancy Pelosi rallied aggressively for Wiener’s opponent in the contentious congressional race. 

Whoever wins the special election — which the governor must call within two weeks of a seat becoming vacant — will serve out the remaining two years of Wiener’s term. 

“Now that Congressman-elect Wiener is headed to Washington, I congratulate Scott on his victory and plan to formally enter the race for Senate District 11 in the coming days,” Christine Pelosi said in a statement to Capitol Confidential. 

Haney himself came to Sacramento via special election, winning office in 2022 to replace Assembly Member David Chiu, who left to become San Francisco’s city attorney. 

Christine Pelosi is an attorney and Democratic Party activist who has never held elective office.

Behind the scenes, away from the pomp and excitement over elections and the new faces coming to Sacramento, work is already underway on one of the most consequential responsibilities for state lawmakers: the budget. 

The months-long process is always a rollercoaster unto itself, but for the first time in eight years, we’ll have a new governor overseeing the process.