Marie Hurabiell, a San Francisco nonprofit executive and political organizer, is jumping into the race to replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), launching an outsider bid for a congressional seat shaped by nearly four decades of Democratic power and national influence.
Hurabiell, who leads the advocacy group ConnectedSF, announced this week that she will seek the seat long held by Pelosi, arguing the district needs a representative more focused on local frustrations than Washington stature. Her campaign is expected to center on quality-of-life concerns that have increasingly dominated San Francisco politics, including housing costs, public safety, and civic accountability.
“I didn’t plan to run for office this year — but San Francisco doesn’t need more ideological extremes. We need results and reform,” Hurabiell wrote in her X post. “I’m running to bring pragmatic, common-sense Democratic leadership to Washington — focused on safety, innovation, and affordability. I’ve stood up to failed policies before. I’ll do it again.”
ConnectedSF was an early endorser of San Francisco Democratic mayor Daniel Lurie, when political experts thought he was too green and didn’t have a shot at winning. He returned the favor and has frequently appeared at Hurabiell’s events, including a gala where he was the featured speaker.
Hurabiell, though described as a rising star, has had her fair share of public missteps. She found herself in hot water after posting on X that “Trans women are NOT women” and that “[Critical race theory] was a tactic used by Hitler and the KKK.” Those comments led to a protest outside the ConnectedSF gala in 2025.
Hurabiell was a former member of the Georgetown University Board of Regents and was appointed by President Donald Trump to the Presidio Trust Board of Directors. She lost two bids for a seat on the City College of San Francisco board of trustees, and in 2022, she switched party affiliation from Republican to Democrat.
Two of her biggest Democratic challengers are Saikat Chakrabarti, a former tech executive who served as chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and state Sen. Scott Wiener, who mounted their campaigns this year.
Chakrabarti drew more than 700 people to a rally in San Francisco’s Mission District, where he launched his campaign. He has invested more than $700,000 of his money into the race.
Chakrabarti said Democrats are craving a generational change and need a “new kind of leader who is not a part of the establishment, because the establishment has failed us.”
Wiener, a Harvard-educated attorney who chairs the state Senate Budget Committee, wants to be part of the new class of Democrats. He is known around Sacramento for championing LGBT rights, combating climate change, and pushing for fair housing. Most recently, he made headlines for pushing back on Trump’s recommendation to send National Guard troops to San Francisco.
Unlike the other contenders with elected experience or deep donor networks, Hurabiell enters the race from the nonprofit and advocacy world, positioning herself as a grassroots alternative in what is expected to become a crowded Democratic contest. Through ConnectedSF, she has worked on civic engagement and local policy advocacy, building ties with neighborhood activists and community groups that could serve as the backbone of her campaign.
Her candidacy underscores the political opening created by Pelosi’s departure — a rare moment of uncertainty in one of the country’s safest Democratic seats. For decades, the district has been synonymous with Pelosi’s brand of establishment Democratic leadership, making the upcoming race less a partisan fight than a battle over what comes next for San Francisco Democrats.
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Hurabiell is betting voters are ready for a generational and stylistic shift, but she faces an uphill climb in a race likely to draw higher-profile Democrats with stronger fundraising advantages and broader name recognition.
Still, her entry signals that the contest to define the post-Pelosi era is moving beyond party heavyweights and toward a broader fight over who best represents a city wrestling with both progressive ideals and mounting local challenges.