Christine Pelosi Will Not Run for Nancy Pelosi’s House Seat

U.S.|Christine Pelosi Will Not Run for Her Mother’s House Seat

Days after Representative Nancy Pelosi announced her retirement from Congress, her daughter Christine Pelosi said on Monday that she would not seek her mother’s seat and would run instead for the California State Senate.

It was the first of what could become several political dominoes to fall in San Francisco after Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, announced last week that she would not run for re-election next year.

There had long been speculation that the younger Ms. Pelosi would try to succeed her mother in Congress and continue the family legacy in Washington. Christine Pelosi, a lawyer, has been involved in Democratic politics for decades as a member of the Democratic National Committee, the director of a union program to train candidates and an aide on Capitol Hill. She also wrote a book about her mother’s political career called “The Nancy Pelosi Way.”

But Christine Pelosi said on Monday that she would instead pursue the State Senate seat that represents San Francisco. The next scheduled race in that district is not until 2028, but the incumbent, Senator Scott Wiener, a Democrat, is running for Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat next year.

Christine Pelosi said she would run for the State Senate seat whenever it becomes vacant, either in a special election if Mr. Wiener wins his House race or in 2028 when he is termed out.

“I like the thought of forging my own path,” she said in an interview.

“I don’t think that there is a better representative or a better speaker in Washington, D.C., for San Francisco than Nancy Pelosi,” she added. “And I wish everybody luck as they attempt to follow in those stilettos.”

San Francisco politics are notoriously cutthroat, and candidates began jumping in to run for Nancy Pelosi’s seat before she announced her plans to retire. First came Saikat Chakrabarti, a progressive Democrat who was a founding engineer at the payment-processing firm Stripe before he helped to run Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s upstart 2018 House campaign.

Last month, Mr. Wiener said he would run, too, even if Nancy Pelosi didn’t retire. London Breed, a former San Francisco mayor, is also seriously considering the seat.

Erik Mebust, a spokesman for Mr. Wiener, said there was no endorsement deal involving the Pelosis.

“He’ll wait to see how the race unfolds,” Mr. Mebust said of the State Senate race.

Christine Pelosi led the California Democratic Party’s women’s caucus during the #MeToo movement over sexual harassment. She played a high-profile role in pushing the State Legislature to address misconduct in the State Capitol and helped to form an organization focused on supporting and protecting victims of harassment.

The younger Ms. Pelosi, the second of Nancy Pelosi’s five children, said the main political lesson she learned from her mother is that “it’s always about the people.”

“The people are your bosses,” she said. “They are very anxious and very concerned about their lives, about affordability, about the San Francisco that they want.”

Heather Knight contributed reporting from San Francisco.