State Sen. Scott Wiener won the race to succeed Nancy Pelosi in Congress, beating Supervisor Connie Chan, a fellow Democrat, in California’s 11th District, according to an Associated Press race call Friday morning, Nov. 6. “I’m gonna be the first ever LGBTQ person to represent San Francisco in Congress,” Wiener told supporters at the Swedish American Hall in the Castro on election night, KALW reported.
Chan didn’t concede on election night. “Tonight it remains too early to call,” she said then, The San Francisco Standard reported. She conceded Wednesday. “I congratulate Scott Wiener on his election and wish him success in serving San Francisco,” Chan said, KTVU reported.
Wiener will be the first openly gay man to represent the city in Congress, KQED reported, though Laphonza Butler, a lesbian, held one of California’s U.S. Senate seats in 2023 and 2024, according to CNBC. “This is a win for everyone, for every single person in San Francisco,” Wiener told the crowd, the Standard’s live blog reported.
Wiener Tells Speaker Mike Johnson ‘Bye, Girl, Bye’
The ballroom roared when he took the stage. “Tonight San Francisco voted for results,” Wiener said, KQED reported.
He called Pelosi “the greatest speaker in modern American history” and remembered arriving as a “nerdy” young gay man who, he said, “saw people like him everywhere and he knew he was home.”
Wiener saved a send-off for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., SFGATE reported. “Bye, girl, bye,” Wiener said.
Mayor Daniel Lurie showed up unannounced and smiled for pictures with Wiener, but he kept his own vote to himself. “I’m staying out,” Lurie told the Standard. He offered his own prediction anyway. “He’s going to win this election, and I look forward to partnering with him,” the mayor said. “And I look forward to partnering with Supervisor Chan.”
Connie Chan Conceded Pelosi’s Seat to Wiener on Wednesday
Speakers at Chan’s party, at Gray Area in the Mission, came close to conceding for her, the Standard reported. “As a supervisor, Connie shows up every single day,” Malcolm Yeung, executive director of the Chinese Community Development Center, said from the stage.
Chan thanked Pelosi for her endorsement, according to SFGATE. “We are proud and we have every reason to keep our heads high,” Chan said, KQED reported. “Look at what you made possible.”
Pelosi, who’s held the seat for nearly 40 years, endorsed Chan. Chan had spent the campaign calling Wiener “bankrolled” by billionaires and AI leaders, KQED reported. “We will not stop here. We will make sure that powerful AI companies answer to the workers and communities whose lives they’re changing and impacting and destroying,” Chan said, according to the Standard.
Wiener said he and Chan have had their disagreements, KQED reported. “I respect her in terms of her commitment to San Francisco,” he said.
Wiener’s Sacramento Record on PrEP, HIV and Trans Refuge
Before the state Senate, Wiener sat on the Board of Supervisors, the same board San Francisco voters elected Harvey Milk to in 1977, History.com notes. “I have dedicated my life to this city and to this community,” Wiener said Tuesday, according to KQED.
In 2017, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Wiener’s SB 239, which repealed HIV-specific criminal penalties and brought HIV under the state’s general communicable-disease law, CNN reported. “The most effective way to reduce HIV infections is to destigmatize HIV,” Wiener told CNN.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 159, which Wiener co-authored, in October 2019, and pharmacists could start dispensing PrEP and PEP without a prescription in July 2020, CapRadio reported. “To end new HIV infections, we must dramatically expand access to PrEP and PEP,” Wiener said then.
His SB 107, signed in September 2022, aims to protect trans kids and their parents who come to California from states that punish parents for letting their kids get gender-affirming care, his office said. “As so many states work to erase trans kids and criminalize their families, California must always have their backs,” Wiener said in the release.
When Is Scott Wiener Sworn In to Congress?
Wiener’s House term starts at noon Jan. 3, 2027. The 20th Amendment sets that start for “Senators and Representatives” and has Congress meet that day “unless they shall by law appoint a different day,” according to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute.
“We’re going to make change,” Wiener told KQED on election night. “With this tidal wave across the country, we’re going to be able to make change.” On the campaign trail, he promised to push for national AI regulation, down to a kill switch for a worst-case disaster, KQED reported.
Wiener has held his state Senate seat since 2016, and his current term runs through Dec. 4, 2028, according to Ballotpedia. “District 11 includes San Francisco, Broadmoor, Colma, and Daly City,” his Senate biography says.
If Wiener leaves the seat early, a special election fills it. “The governor must call the election within 14 calendar days of the vacancy,” Ballotpedia notes.
Votes Are Still Being Counted in California’s 11th District
Pelosi announced in a November 2025 video that she wouldn’t run again. “I will not be seeking re-election to Congress,” she said, The National News Desk reported.
Wiener watched the first returns with advisers in a back room before his speech. “I feel very very good about the lead holding,” he told the Standard.
(The AP has also called Chris Pappas’ Senate race and J.D. Ford’s House race. More results are on Gayety’s LGBTQ+ election results page.)
“California law also requires election officials to count timely vote-by-mail ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day and received within seven days after the election,” San Francisco’s Department of Elections says. The department has said it may need the full 30 days that state law allows, and it must certify the city’s results by Dec. 3.
