Haney and Christine Pelosi Enter Senate Race as Larsen Backs Moderates

With State Senator Scott Wiener elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in California's 11th Congressional District, San Francisco political leaders and donors are already reshaping the city's next legislative contests while reflecting on an unconventional campaign season.

Matt Haney and Christine Pelosi Prepare for 11th District State Senate Special Election

As reported by the San Francisco Examiner, Scott Wiener's congressional victory triggers a special election for his 11th District state Senate seat, which represents San Francisco and portions of northern San Mateo County encompassing a little more than 1 million residents according to the 2020 census. The race pits Assemblymember Matt Haney, who represents the 17th Assembly District on the eastern side of the city, against attorney, author, and Democratic National Committee executive committee member Christine Pelosi, a daughter of U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi.

San Francisco State University associate political science professor Jason McDaniel called Christine Pelosi a viable contender with strong Democratic Party fundraising and endorsement connections—including an endorsement from U.S. Senator Adam Schiff—but favored Haney to win based on his legislative track record. Haney served more than six years on the San Francisco Board of Education and 3.5 years as District 6 supervisor before winning an April 2022 special election to the Assembly, where he won reelection with 90.12% of the vote by Friday afternoon's count. Haney holds endorsements from Wiener (whose Senate term runs through 2028), 52 of the 80 Assembly members including Catherine Stefani, 6 labor unions, 8 of the city's 11 supervisors, and YIMBY Action. In 2026 alone, Haney had 15 bills passed by the Legislature and signed without veto by Governor Gavin Newsom, following his 2024 law capping rental security deposits at one month of rent and Assembly Bill 1633 imposing a 25% corporate income tax on private detention facility operators.

Christine Pelosi, who declared her candidacy in November 2025 and lives in North Beach, emphasized physical and mental health care expansion, housing affordability, and public education after attending nearly 200 community events over the past year and joining Service Employees International Union workers outside Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital on April 15. She previously served in the San Francisco City Attorney's Office, as special counsel at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during President Bill Clinton's administration, and as chief of staff to Representative John F. Tierney.

Ripple Chairman Chris Larsen Deploys Over $22 Million Across National and California Races

According to The San Francisco Standard, Ripple chairman and San Francisco native Chris Larsen poured more than $22 million into national politics during the 2026 cycle, backing Democratic candidates and committees such as the House Majority PAC while also funding moderate, business-aligned efforts in California. Nationally, Larsen contributed $4 million to boost Democrat Sherrod Brown's victorious Senate campaign in Ohio and gave $1.75 million to James Talarico's winning Senate bid in Texas, even as a crypto industry PAC spent roughly $1.4 million opposing Talarico.

In California, where spokesperson Alex Tourk described Larsen's approach as "pragmatic centrist" and "back to basics," Larsen contributed $5 million to his own group, Golden State Promise, and $2.5 million to an anti-tax group started by Google cofounder Sergey Brin to oppose the statewide billionaire tax. He also gave $5 million to Grow California, an organization he co-founded with venture capitalist Tim Draper led by strategist Shaudi Fulp, which was on track to win at least 9 of the 11 legislative districts in which it spent (though Assembly candidate Eric Lucan lost despite at least $1.8 million in Grow California support). Locally, Larsen gave $1.5 million to Mayor Daniel Lurie's Propositions D, E, and F, $500,000 to Theo Ellington's successful supervisor campaign, and $700,000 to defeat June's proposed "Overpaid CEO Tax," while also spending more than $4.5 million on New York legislator Alex Bores' primary bid and supporting Scott Wiener.

Conor Johnston Reveals Ownership of "Vannie" Rolling Campaign Minivan

A column in the San Francisco Examiner profiled Conor Johnston, former chief of staff to London Breed when she served as Board of Supervisors president, who officially confirmed on Election Day that he built and drove "Vannie," the brown minivan with a custom CHANLFE license plate, a faux-brick chimney built from scrap two-by-fours, a mailbox, and a garden hose. Inspired by the guerrilla political stunts of late consultant Jack Davis—who ran campaigns for Frank Jordan and Willie Brown and passed away in May at age 79—Johnston launched the van in April 2026 to counter candidate Saikat Chakrabarti's self-funded campaign before pivoting to Supervisor Connie Chan after Chakrabarti finished third in the June primary and his new PAC spent $425,000 on canvassers for Chan. Although Wiener outraised Chan by about $3 million and a pro-Wiener super PAC paid Johnston's company about $29,600 for headquarters real-estate work this spring, Johnston stated the van was his own project and noted plans to sell it after the election to a Petaluma resident who owns a blue macaw.