{"id":46813,"date":"2026-02-21T11:28:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T19:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=46813"},"modified":"2026-02-21T11:28:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T19:28:01","slug":"whos-the-most-progressive-s-f-congressional-candidate-qa-presses-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/02\/21\/whos-the-most-progressive-s-f-congressional-candidate-qa-presses-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"Who\u2019s the most progressive S.F. congressional candidate? Q&A presses issue."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A by\u00a0Io Yeh Gilman<\/a> <\/strong>February 10, 2026 (MissionLocal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Three
From left to right: Saikat Chakrabarti, Scott Wiener, and Connie Chan. Photos by Mariana Garcia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

No matter who wins November\u2019s election to succeed<\/a> Nancy Pelosi in U.S. Congress, it seems that the Congressional Progressive Caucus will be gaining a new member. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Monday night\u2019s Q&A at the Mission\u2019s Cultura y Arte Nativa de las Americas, State Sen. Scott Wiener, District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan, and former Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez staffer and tech multi-millionaire Saikat Chakrabarti all worked to establish their progressive bona fides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All three candidates made it clear they would be most excited to join the Progressive Caucus if elected. They also all called for accountability for fossil fuel companies, abolishing ICE and Medicare for All. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The progressive bent was perhaps unsurprising, given that the three were speaking to members of the Working Families Party, a group critical not just of Republicans but also of corporate Democrats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event, open to the public, drew about 100 people, with many more joining online. Organizers chose some questions in advance, and others from audience submissions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They honed in on the areas where candidates\u2019 progressive credentials were in question. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chakrabarti defends donations to moderates, explains local record<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For Chakrabarti<\/a>, that meant asking about his election donations in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those included $500, the maximum donation, to the unsuccessful campaign of Michael Lai<\/a> in District 11, and $500 for Bilal Mahmood<\/a>, who unseated the city\u2019s lone socialist supervisor, Dean Preston, in District 5. Chakrabarti also voted for Daniel Lurie for mayor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dance<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lai, Mahmood and Lurie are all moderates and ran against local progressives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chakrabarti tried to explain. \u201cWhen it comes to Michael, that was an oversight on my part,\u201d Chakrabarti said \u2014 a \u201cformer\u201d friend from the Bernie Sanders campaign worked on Lai\u2019s campaign, and recommended that Chakrabarti donate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for Mahmood, \u201che\u2019s, I believe, progressive,\u201d Chakrabarti said (one person in the crowd let out an incredulous laugh). Chakrabarti listed some of the progressive policies Mahmood has supported, including the labor-backed CEO tax<\/a> on June\u2019s ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"15%<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d be lying if I didn\u2019t admit I was excited to see the first South Asian supervisor in the city and first Muslim supervisor in the city,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Saikat Chakrabarti at a Working Families Party forum on Feb. 9, 2026. Photo by Io Yeh Gilman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As for Lurie, \u201cI\u2019ll be honest, I was not a fan of any of the people running for mayor,\u201d Chakrabarti said to chuckles from the crowd. He also noted that Aaron Peskin, the consensus progressive candidate in that race, was his second choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve been in San Francisco for years, a member asked, so \u201cwhy didn\u2019t you start engaging in San Francisco progressive communities years ago?\u201d Voting records show Chakrabarti resided here from 2010-11 and from 2020 to the present. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"USF<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Chakrabarti said he\u2019d been more focused on federal politics in his work with Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, and with his policy think tank, New Consensus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m running for Congress,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I wanted to run for supervisor or something else in the city, I\u2019d start by volunteering and working on campaigns here and working my way up, the way I\u2019ve done in national politics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scott Wiener<\/strong> talks Gaza \u2018genocide,\u2019 taxes and legislative chops<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Wiener, who is not on the progressive \u201cteam\u201d in San Francisco because of his stances on issues like housing<\/a> and taxes<\/a>, also received a grilling from the Working Families Party.\u276e\u276f\"Unleashing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unleashing Creative Minds: SF S.T.E.A.M. Academy<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

At SF S.T.E.A.M. Academy, we empower young minds through immersive bilingual learning in English and Spanish. Our curriculum intertwines science, technology, engineering, arts, and math to foster innovation, curiosity, and a love for learning.Safe \u2022 Bilingual \u2022 InnovativeVisit us at our Open House!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They pointed out that the last time the group interviewed Wiener, he declined to say whether Israel\u2019s attack on Gaza amounted to genocide, much like he did<\/a> at the first congressional debate in a clip that went viral. A few days later, though, Wiener posted a video saying that he does<\/em> think Israel\u2019s actions constitute genocide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCan you walk us through your thought process for what the turning point was for you?\u201d organizers asked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wiener said that he had always considered what Israel<\/a> was doing in Gaza an atrocity, but had just \u201cchose to use different words that were, in my view, quite equivalent to genocide.\u201d This included \u201ccratering an entire population,\u201d \u201cabsolute destruction,\u201d \u201ca moral stain\u201d and the Yiddish word \u201cshanda,\u201d which means disgrace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Scott Wiener addresses attendees of the Working Families Party forum from Zoom on Feb. 9, 2026. Photo by Io Yeh Gilman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe word \u2018genocide\u2019 is a very sensitive one, and the community is very divided on it, and for a lot of people it is very raw,\u201d he said. \u201cBut ultimately I chose to use the word \u2018genocide\u2019 and I stand by that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organizers also asked Wiener about his opposition to Prop. 33, a failed November 2024 statewide initiative that would have allowed cities to expand rent control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI did not oppose it. So that is not accurate,\u201d Wiener said, explaining that for many years he has supported reforming California\u2019s rent control laws, which in San Francisco only apply to buildings built before 1979. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wiener also fielded a question about his work on a tax measure that will go before Bay Area voters in November to fund public transit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without the funds, BART and Muni service will be decimated. They asked why his tax a sales tax that, like all sales taxes, is regressive and disproportionately affects the poor, rather than a progressive gross receipts tax which hits larger businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A gross receipts tax, Wiener responded, would not have passed the legislature. \u201cWe could have fought that fight for a gross receipts tax, and then had no bill, and then had no ballot measure, and have BART, Muni, AC Transit, Caltrain crater or have massive service cuts.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Near the end, Wiener, who has far more legislative experience than the other candidates, made a pitch for taking his years into account. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not good enough to have progressive ideas,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to have the ability to turn those progressive ideas into progressive laws.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chan on housing and the Great Highway<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Chan\u2019s politics and strong union support tend to place her solidly into San Francisco\u2019s progressive camp, but she was still questioned about her stances on urbanist issues, including upzoning<\/a> to allow taller buildings and closing<\/a> the Great Highway to cars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though building taller, denser housing and pedestrianizing roads tend to be progressive issues in a national context, San Francisco\u2019s progressive establishment often opposes urbanist changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the city\u2019s unions and progressive supervisors opposed this year\u2019s upzoning legislation and last year\u2019s Proposition K, which closed the Great Highway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Connie Chan at the Working Families Party forum on Feb. 9, 2026. Photo by Io Yeh Gilman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Chan said that lack of protections for small businesses and rent-controlled tenants motivated her opposition to upzoning, which increased the maximum height of buildings on many of San Francisco\u2019s commercial corridors from four stories to six or eight stories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is the reason why I was really hoping that I could get support to amend the zoning plan,\u201d she said, \u201cto fight against real estate, speculative investments and displacement.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chan proposed amendments<\/a> to the upzoning plan that lowered allowable heights on commercial corridors in her district and removed all existing housing \u2014 not just rent-controlled housing \u2014 from the plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These amendments were ultimately not incorporated into the plan because they likely would have put the city out of compliance<\/a> with state housing law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the Great Highway, Chan said that until there is a better public transit system and people \u201cwant to ditch their cars,\u201d the question she will be asking is, \u201cAre there access and routes for people who have to drive their cars?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An endorsement from the Working Families Party is forthcoming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The top two vote getters in the June 2 \u201cjungle primary,\u201d regardless of party affiliation, will advance to the Nov. 3 general election. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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io@missionlocal.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Io covers city hall and is a part of Report for America, which supports journalists in local newsrooms. She was born and raised in San Francisco and previously reported on the city while working for her high school newspaper, The Lowell. Io studied the history of science at Harvard and wrote for The Harvard Crimson.More by Io Yeh Gilman<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Io Yeh Gilman February 10, 2026 (MissionLocal.org) No matter who wins November\u2019s election to succeed Nancy Pelosi in U.S. Congress, it seems that the Congressional Progressive Caucus will be gaining a new member.  At Monday night\u2019s Q&A at the Mission\u2019s Cultura y Arte Nativa de las Americas, State Sen. Scott Wiener, District… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46813"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46813"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46814,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46813\/revisions\/46814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}