Former Trump appointee enters the race for Nancy Pelosi's congressional seat
Marie Hurabiell | Courtesy Marie Hurabiell for Congress
SAN FRANCISCO - The race to replace Nancy Pelosi in Congress is getting more heated as a new candidate entered the race on Wednesday.
Marie Hurabiell, 55, the director of ConnectedSF, a political advocacy group, announced her candidacy in a post to X.
"I didn’t plan to run for office this year — but San Francisco doesn’t need more ideological extremes. We need results and reform," Hurabiell wrote in her post. "I’m running to bring pragmatic, common-sense Democratic leadership to Washington — focused on safety, innovation, and affordability. I’ve stood up to failed policies before. I’ll do it again."
Hurabiell holds a Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and was appointed by President Trump to the Presidio Trust Board of Directors in 2018.
Her announcement comes just 97 days before the June primary. Hurabiell’s website describes her as a "pragmatic bridge builder" who will "work across party lines," and states that she would not export the "failed radical ideologies" of San Francisco to Washington D.C.
Who is Marie Hurabiell?
The backstory:
Hurabiell was, until 2022, a registered Republican and a vocal supporter of the campaigns to recall former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, three members of the Board of Education, and Supervisor Joel Engardio.
Her past comments online may make for an uphill battle in convincing the residents of San Francisco — the region covered by California’s 11th Congressional District — to vote for her.
"Trans women are NOT women regardless of your personal beliefs," Hurabiell wrote in a June 15, 2025 post on X. "Science: DNA. Chromosomes. Body structure. They are human beings, and as such deserve the rights of any human, BUT they are not women. Women have XX chromosomes, a uterus, a vagina. Trans women have none of these."
She also, in a 2021 post that has since been deleted, quoted a speaker at a school board meeting in Loudon County, Va. who stated that "(Critical race theory) was a tactic used by Hitler and the KKK." In the same post, she called that speaker a "strong and passionate parent," and described critical race theory as "dangerous nonsense."
She apologized for her comments about Critical Race Theory in a 2022 interview with KQED, and said she had "not spent a lot of time digging into" the subject.
Dig deeper:
A former member of the Georgetown University board of regents, Hurabiell has twice campaigned to be elected to the City College of San Francisco's Board of Trustees. She lost both elections.
She and ConnectedSF were quick to endorse Daniel Lurie in the 2024 San Francisco Mayoral race. Her support for Lurie has been returned in kind — the mayor appeared at a ConnectedSF happy hour event last spring, and was billed as the main speaker at a November gala put on by the nonprofit organization.
In an interview with the San Francisco Standard, Hurabiell billed herself as "an actual moderate."
"The three current candidates in the race are essentially fighting for the same group of voters, and the rest of San Franciscans feel left out," Hurabiell told the Standard. "People are begging for an actual moderate, an actual adult in the room to come forward."
The other side:
Hurabiell will be facing off against three other candidates in the June primary.
State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) announced his candidacy for Pelosi’s seat a month before she announced her retirement. Wiener, who is openly gay, has served in the California State Senate since 2016, representing San Francisco. He had previously served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, where he represented District 8, which includes the Castro neighborhood.
Wiener has said that if elected, he intends to push progressive policies while working across the aisle. He has touted his relationships with his Republican colleagues in the state senate as evidence of his ability to work outside party lines.
The first candidate to announce their candidacy was Saikat Chakrabarti, an ex-Silicon Valley engineer who once served as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff. Chakrabarti announced plans to challenge Pelosi almost two years before the 2026 midterms.
Chakrabarti had also previously worked on Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign.
San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan announced her candidacy shortly after Pelosi made it known she would not seek reelection. Chan was elected to represent District 1 in 2020, and prior to that had spent two decades in public service.
She serves as the budget committee chair for the Board of Supervisors, and has said her background has given her the skills and experience to fight back against President Donald Trump’s attacks on immigrants, the LGBTQ community, people of color, and the working class.
Big picture view:
The race to represent California’s Eleventh Congressional District is being closely watched, as it’s the first time in nearly 40 years that Pelosi won’t be running in that district.
Pelosi, 85, announced her retirement in November.