As the clock ticks towards January 2027, when Nancy Pelosi will officially step down from Congress, speculation intensifies over who will succeed her as House Speaker. Pelosi’s departure from California’s 11th congressional district—a seat she has held with distinction—opens the field to fresh faces ready to vie for this influential position.

According to recent filings with the Federal Election Commission, there are already six candidates who have thrown their hats into the ring for the June 2026 Democratic primary for this San Francisco-based district. These contenders aim to usher in a new era of leadership as the Democratic Party experiences a wave of generational transformation, echoing shifts seen elsewhere, such as in New York where Rep. Jerry Nadler announced his retirement, paving the way for younger candidates to emerge.

Among the hopefuls are two notable figures who have begun to capture the public’s attention. These individuals, significantly younger than Pelosi, embody the burgeoning generational shift within the party. One prominent candidate is California State Senator Scott Wiener, who declared his candidacy in October, strategically timing his announcement just before Pelosi formally announced her plans. Wiener, who has a strong background in both San Francisco city government and law, was first elected to the state Senate in 2016 and has since gained recognition for his legislative efforts.

CA State Sen. Scott Wiener

As the race heats up, these candidates will undoubtedly bring fresh perspectives and energy to the political landscape, potentially redefining the future of the Democratic Party in California and beyond.

Wiener was first elected to the California state Senate in 2016 and previously worked in San Francisco city government and as a lawyer.

In his announcement video launching his congressional bid, he said he was running “to defend San Francisco, our values, our people, and the constitution of the United States with everything we have… Trump and his MAGA extremists don’t scare me.” According to federal campaign finance filings, his campaign had nearly $870,000 on hand as of the end of September.

Wiener, in a statement on Thursday, called Pelosi “an icon of American politics,” and praised her work on healthcare, the economy, climate policy, and “fighting for the marginalized… At the height of the AIDS crisis, when so many others wanted to push LGBTQ people under the rug, Nancy Pelosi fought proudly for us to be treated with dignity.”

Speaking about his own experience coming out as gay man around the time Pelosi came to Congress and said she was there to fight AIDs, Wiener added, “It was a terrifying time to come of age as a gay man, and Nancy Pelosi stepped up and used her voice and platform to fight for people like me. I will be eternally grateful to her.”

Saikat Chakrabarti

Separately, former Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur Saikat Chakrabarti, had well beforehand launched a primary campaign against Pelosi.

Chakrabarti was New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign manager during her 2018 primary upset against incumbent Joe Crowley, which kicked off Ocasio-Cortez’s meteoric rise. He got his start in politics working on Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign and is a founding engineer of the online payment platform Stripe.

Chakrabarti told ABC News in April that he felt he could beat Pelosi in the primary because he saw echoes of the 2018 “blue wave” in 2025: a post-Trump election environment marked by frustration among Democrats over their party’s defeat. “That moment of change, in my opinion, is dwarfed by the moment of change you see right now. The level of anger at the Democratic Party for failing is huge,” Chakrabarti said.

In a statement on Thursday, Chakrabarti thanked Pelosi “for your decades of service that defined a generation of politics and for doing something truly rare in Washington: making room for the next one. Our campaign is ready to build on that legacy by fighting to create a San Francisco and an America that works for everyone.”

The filing period for California’s congressional primary does not open until February 9, 2026 and closes on March 6, so there is still plenty of time for other challengers to enter the ring.