Saikat Chakrabarti Launches Campaign to Support Connie Chan’s Bid for Congress

“It’s extremely important that we have someone representing San Francisco who is for a tax on the ultra-rich, and Connie’s the only candidate right now that supports that,” Chakrabarti said. “And it’s really important that we have someone representing San Francisco who does not take corporate money.”

Chakrabarti said in addition to the independent expenditure campaign, he is directing the more than 200 paid staff members from his run to pivot their door knocking and other field efforts to support Chan as well.

He told KQED that he plans to put money into the committee backing Chan “at the same pace” that he was funding his own campaign through at least July 10.

Chakrabarti ran one of the most expensive self-funded campaigns, pouring $10 million of his own wealth from a former career as a tech engineer into the race. While Chan amassed wide support from labor unions, her campaign raised only a small fraction of the money compared to Chakrabarti.

“This campaign has always been about empowering working people — not cozying up to big corporations. I welcome Saikat’s endorsement and will work every day to earn the vote of every person in San Francisco,” Chan said in a statement about the endorsement.

Candidates are not allowed to directly coordinate with independent expenditures, and Chan did not comment on Chakrabarti’s fundraising.

“Together, we can stand up to corporate power and bring the voices of working families to Washington.”

Chakrabarti, who previously worked as chief of staff for New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, ran as a progressive Democrat focused on changing the Democratic Party and breaking ties with corporate donors.

But as a political outsider, he had little footprint in San Francisco’s small but mighty political circles and was not shy to criticize Democratic leaders like Pelosi, who has held the seat representing San Francisco for nearly four decades.

Chan, also a progressive Democrat who moved to San Francisco from Hong Kong in her youth, has worked for years in City Hall and received the coveted endorsement from Pelosi herself.

Jason McDaniel, a political science professor at San Francisco State University, said Chakrabarti’s move to back Chan could help consolidate more left-leaning voters.

“It’s sending a signal to a lot of the sort of progressive voters and leaders in the city that there is a sense of unity and solidarity. I do think that one important part of this,” he said.

Chakrabarti acknowledged that his campaign likely split some progressive voters and said he was happy to “consolidate the progressive movement.”

But Chakrabarti’s endorsement isn’t guaranteed to be a big boost for Chan’s campaign, McDaniel said, noting that Chakrabarti did well among some demographics such as younger tech workers who might peel off and go for Wiener, the more moderate of the three.

“Some people, maybe sort of younger tech type workers, saw Chakrabarti as a change agent,” he said. “Some similar voters see Scott Wiener as the one who also maybe represents change and who’s still relatively progressive and very liberal.”

Wiener, a productive state lawmaker who also previously served as a local supervisor, received endorsements and hefty campaign contributions from various tech leaders as well as groups like San Francisco YIMBY, the moderate political organization GrowSF and the San Francisco Democratic Party.

“Connie Chan has built a career on blocking housing and affordability for young people — the same voters Saikat claimed to speak for,” said Joe Arellano, campaign spokesperson for Wiener. “With this move, it’s clear that Saikat never cared about what’s best for San Francisco. He was only in the race to stroke his massive ego.”

Wiener was projected to be the frontrunner in June and came out with nearly 41% of the vote in the June primary.

Chan came in second with roughly 30%, higher than recent polling had projected, and Chakrabarti came in third with 18% of votes.

“A week ago, Saikat was running Connie Chan attack ads, calling her ‘the establishment,’ and saying she’s a puppet of AIPAC. Now he’s endorsing her?” Arellano said. “This is the cynical politics that voters hate.”

Chakrabarti said his support for Chan comes down to wanting to reshape democratic politics in Washington, D.C.

“I never believed that it’s all about one race or one seat. I’ve always thought it has to be a movement of change,” Chakrabarti said. “Connie Chan is part of the movement in the right direction for the Democratic Party.”