AOC’s Former Chief of Staff Launches Bold Primary Bid Against Nancy Pelosi
Saikat Chakrabarti, once the chief of staff to Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), has announced his candidacy to challenge former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the 2026 Democratic primary for her San Francisco congressional seat. The news, first highlighted by outlets like Politico in early February 2025, marks a significant escalation in the ongoing tension between the Democratic Party’s progressive insurgents and its entrenched establishment.
Chakrabarti, a 39-year-old progressive activist and co-founder of Justice Democrats, made his intentions clear in a February 5, 2025, post on X, stating, “I’ve decided to run against Nancy Pelosi to represent San Francisco in Congress. I know some of you might be surprised that Speaker Emeritus Pelosi is running again, but she is—for her 21st term!” His campaign is framed as a call for new leadership, arguing that the Democratic Party has failed to adapt to a radically shifted political landscape.
Pelosi, now 84, has represented California’s 11th congressional district since 1987 and served as House Speaker from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023. While she stepped down from leadership in 2022, she filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission in November 2024 to run again in 2026, though she hasn’t publicly confirmed her plans. Chakrabarti’s challenge comes at a time when some Democrats are questioning whether longtime leaders should make way for a younger generation, especially after the party’s struggles in the 2024 elections.
A key figure in AOC’s 2018 upset victory over incumbent Joe Crowley, Chakrabarti also played a pivotal role in shaping the Green New Deal, a sweeping progressive policy proposal. His tenure as AOC’s chief of staff ended in 2019 amid tensions with party leadership, including clashes with Pelosi over strategy and funding. Now, he’s leveraging his grassroots organizing experience and tech background—he was an early engineer at Stripe—to mount what he calls a “voter-driven” campaign, eschewing corporate PAC money and focusing on direct engagement with San Francisco residents.
In his announcement, Chakrabarti criticized Pelosi’s approach, pointing to her resistance to change within the party. He referenced her intervention in December 2024 to block AOC from becoming the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, favoring the older Representative Gerry Connolly instead. “When Democrats were about to appoint their star communicator—Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—to chair the powerful Oversight Committee to hold Trump and his cronies accountable, Pelosi personally intervened to block it,” he wrote on X. He argues that the party needs a “bold vision” to address affordability crises in housing, healthcare, and education—issues he says were more manageable when Pelosi first entered Congress.
Pelosi’s camp has remained silent on Chakrabarti’s challenge so far, and her decades-long grip on the district, bolstered by strong fundraising and name recognition, makes her a formidable opponent. Still, Chakrabarti’s entry into the race underscores a growing generational and ideological divide within the Democratic Party, pitting a veteran powerbroker against a rising progressive star. With the primary over a year away, this contest could become a defining battle for the party’s future direction.
