Wiener Wins CA-11 Primary, Heads to November Runoff

As many predicted when he entered the field last fall, housing champion and state Sen. Scott Wiener finished first in the race to replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi as San Francisco’s voice in Congress.

Wiener has around 40 percent of the votes and will face San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan, who claimed nearly 30 percent, in the November general election.

Various outlets have called the race, with about half the vote counted.

Wiener has been buttressed by the real estate industry since the beginning, with donors backing a candidate they believe will fight to expedite housing construction in the U.S. As a state senator, Wiener has operated as the face of a wave of YIMBYism (yes, in my backyard), the political movement built on the idea that California’s — and the country’s — housing affordability crisis is foremost a housing shortage.

The real estate industry, and its orbit of policy advocates, contractors and such, contributed more than $247,000 to his primary campaign, just over 7 percent of the $4 million he raised. Donations include $2,500 from the National Association of Home Builders’ PAC, and $4,300 from Bill Witte, former CEO and founder of development firm Related California.

Chan raised under $13,000 from real estate. Chakrabarti, who is also a former employee at digital payment tech company Stripe, has spent almost $9 million of his personal wealth to fund his campaign. Of the $417,000 he raised from individual contributions, less than $3,000 came from real estate interests.

Chan’s second-place finish sets the stage for a general election runoff between two candidates who claim the same political party but diverge sharply on housing. Chan, who hails originally from Hong Kong and represents the more residential west side of San Francisco on the board of supervisors, has criticized the “all housing is good housing” argument pushed by Wiener and his camp. A self-proclaimed progressive, Chan has stood as a voice of those skeptical of Wiener and the YIMBYs housing push. She has two major endorsements in her pocket: Sen. Adam Schiff alongside Pelosi.

Chakrabarti largely campaigned on shaking up the status quo, and flaunted his time as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff as progressive bona fides, claims that came even as his former boss distanced herself from his campaign).

The former tech worker has focused on the need for a new Democratic party, rather than a specific housing platform.

Wiener, on the other hand, has put out a robust housing plan, led his marquee proposal to roll back Republican tax cuts and begin paying cities $10,000 per unit of housing they build.