Christine Pelosi will not be running to succeed her mother, Speaker Emerita Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), in her San Francisco district, but she will be pining for an elected office in the Golden State.
The 59-year-old announced on Monday that she will be running for the city’s California state Senate seat.
“In courtrooms, campaigns and corridors of power, I’ve fought to build Power For The People. And that’s why I’m running for California Senate,” she wrote on X. Her opening campaign ad did not mention her mother, though it did feature her in several photos.
Pelosi is the former chairwoman of the California women’s caucus and works as a lawyer and Democratic Party activist. She’s one of five Pelosi children.
She said she was running to represent San Francisco so she could fight for “consumer rights, women’s rights, gun violence survivors, immigrants and our most vulnerable communities against the threat we face.”
The younger Pelosi’s run comes after her mother announced last week she would not run for another House term in 2026. Nancy Pelosi will be 86 at the end of her final House term in 2027 after serving in the chamber for what will be 40 years at the time.
There was speculation that Christine could run for her mother’s House seat, but her state Senate run will close that door. While incumbent state Sen. Scott Wiener’s term doesn’t expire until 2028, he’s running for the elder Pelosi’s congressional seat in 2026. If he wins, his seat will open up for a special election.
Christine’s chief competition appears to be San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who will also run for the seat in 2028. He’s been on the city’s board of supervisors since 2018 and became its president earlier this year.
Christine told KQED that her mother is the “greatest speaker” and “most powerful representative” San Francisco has ever had.
“Those are amazing stilettos that no one can fill. And I wish everybody luck in that race for Congress,” she said, adding that it was time for new leaders and she wants to carve her path through Sacramento.
NANCY PELOSI WILL NOT SEEK REELECTION IN 2026
She also acknowledged that she will run on an affordability message and nodded to a growing artificial intelligence industry in San Francisco.
“AI is going to be a force for good or a force for ill.… We have to make sure that our workers can afford to stay here, that our school teachers, that our firefighters, that our hospital workers, that our tech workers can afford to be part of the community that is also making such rapid change internationally,” Pelosi said.