Nancy Pelosi endorses S.F. Supervisor Joel Engardio in his fight to defeat recall
By J.D. Morris,Staff Writer Sep 2, 2025 (SFChronicle.com)
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, pictured at a press conference in San Francisco in April, says she “strongly” opposed the recall of Supervisor Joel Engardio.Benjamin Fanjoy/For the S.F. Chronicle
San Francisco Supervisor Joel Engardio’s bid to defeat a recall campaign against him in two weeks just got a boost from the city’s most prominent politician: Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi endorsed Engardio in a statement released by his campaign Tuesday, saying she “strongly” opposed the recall and stands with the supervisor “as he continues his important work for the people of the Sunset and San Francisco.”
Engardio, who was elected to represent District 4 in 2022, is in a tough fight to keep his seat after his opponents gathered enough signatures to force a recall vote on Sept. 16. The push to remove Engardio was prompted by his support for Proposition K, a successful 2024 ballot measure that permanently closed a key stretch of the Great Highway to cars. Most of Engardio’s constituents in the Sunset opposed the measure.
An endorsement from Pelosi, a popular politician in the city for decades, could benefit Engardio’s campaign. And it comes at an important moment for Engardio, less than a week after his campaign suffered a setback when the San Francisco Democratic Party deadlocked on the recall and declined to take a position on it.
“Supevisor Joel Engardio is delivering results for the Sunset and for all of San Francisco,” Pelosi said in the statement. “In our work together on health care, transportation, and other vital priorities, Joel has shown his commitment to strengthening our neighborhoods and enhancing our City’s natural resources.”
Engardio said in a statement that “no one stands for progress more than Nancy Pelosi” and he was “honored” to receive her endorsement in the recall.
“From creating housing and public spaces, to supporting parents and families, to helping small businesses thrive — we believe in moving the city forward,” Engardio said. “Her support is a reminder that when we work together, we can build a more vibrant city for everyone.”
This is not the first time Pelosi has waded into a local supervisor race. Last year, she endorsed then-Supervisor Dean Preston as he ran for another term in District 5, which runs from the Tenderloin to Haight-Ashbury. Preston lost to Bilal Mahmood by about 1,600 votes.
Jamie Hughes, lead organizer for the campaign to recall Engardio, did not expect Pelosi to have much impact on the Sunset election.
“District 4 residents aren’t looking to Washington, D.C. to tell them how to vote,” Hughes said. “They know Engardio betrayed them.”
Sep 2, 2025
CITY HALL REPORTER
J.D. Morris covers San Francisco City Hall, focused on Mayor Daniel Lurie. He joined the Chronicle in 2018 to cover energy and spent three years writing mostly about PG&E and California wildfires.Before coming to the Chronicle, he reported on local government for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, where he was among the journalists awarded a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the 2017 North Bay wildfires.He was previously the casino industry reporter for the Las Vegas Sun. Raised in Monterey County and Bakersfield, he has a bachelor’s degree in rhetoric from UC Berkeley.
