State Sen. Scott Wiener is officially getting ready to make his next political move, filing paperwork to run for Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat — but only when the 85-year-old longtime representative decides to retire.

Pelosi, the former Democratic house speaker, has been in Congress for nearly four decades and has been quiet on whether she will seek another term in 2026, despite filing the required paperwork late last year. A spokesperson for Pelosi declined to comment on Monday on her reelection plans and the state senator’s potential candidacy.

Wiener, 55, had previously said he planned to run to represent California’s 11th Congressional District, which encompasses a large swath of San Francisco. Paperwork filed on Friday indicates he is seeking a 2028 bid for the seat, though that could be expedited if Pelosi decides not to run next year.

In a statement to several news organizations last week, Wiener said, “I’ve been clear that I intend to run for this seat whenever the race opens up, whether in 2026 or 2028. This filing is a critical step to prepare for the serious work of running to succeed one of the icons of American politics.”

Wiener, a Democrat, first opened up an exploratory committee for the seat in 2023. He could not be reached for comment on Monday.

Before he assumed elected office, Wiener worked as an attorney for 15 years, spending time in private practice, and served as a law clerk for a New Jersey Supreme Court justice and as a deputy city attorney.

He was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2010 and easily won reelection in 2014. After six years in San Francisco City Hall, he ran for his current seat in the California Senate, where he represents San Francisco, Colma, Daly City and parts of South San Francisco and San Bruno.

Wiener has made a name for himself authoring ambitious housing legislation and as a fierce advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and drug decriminalization. He currently serves as the co-chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus and as chair of the Senate Mental Health Caucus.

Whether Pelosi, who stepped down from her role as speaker in 2023, will run for another term is part of a broader conversation among Democrats who are reckoning with aging party leadership and disillusioned young voters.

Melissa Michelson, a political science professor at Menlo College, said that the argument behind older Democrats — like Pelosi or Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — running for reelection is that they’re more experienced and have the seniority that might enable them “to serve their constituents far more effectively than folks who are new.”

But the other side of the discourse, she said, has been punctuated by 33-year-old Zohran Mamdani’s stunning success in the Democratic Party primary for New York City mayor. Mamdani, a New York State Assemblymember and democratic socialist, bested former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in last week’s primary election, largely through his ability to turn out new and young voters and through an economic message that crossed traditional party lines.

“Losing that leadership and that experience will be a huge hit to the Democratic Party,” Michelson said of Pelosi, who she called “the most effective house speaker in modern history.”

“But maybe what they gain is someone like Scott Wiener with new ideas who reinvigorates the electorate,” she added.

Michelson said a number of candidates are likely waiting in the wings for Pelosi’s seat, noting that the easiest way to get into Congress is to wait for an opening instead of challenging a long-seated incumbent.

When former Rep. Anna Eshoo announced in 2023 that she would not seek reelection, a crowded field of 11 candidates emerged — including some of Silicon Valley’s biggest political names. Sam Liccardo, the former mayor of San Jose, won the seat and was sworn in earlier this year.

Democratic insiders have long speculated that Pelosi’s daughter, Christine Pelosi, a party organizer, will run for the seat when her mother retires.

“Folks with a famous name like a Bush or a Cuomo, you’re a lot more likely to get elected because people remember the other politician, they feel like they know that person and they trust them more,” Michelson said.

But not everyone plans to wait until Pelosi retires.

Saikat Chakrabarti, a former chief of staff for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, announced earlier this year that he plans on challenging the former speaker if she runs for reelection. Chakrabarti worked in tech before joining Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. He went on to serve as Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign manager and her first chief of staff before returning to San Francisco five years ago to start a new political think tank.

In a February social media post announcing his candidacy, Chakrabarti said that the “Democratic Party needs new leadership.” He cited Pelosi’s efforts to block Ocasio-Cortez’s anticipated appointment to the powerful oversight committee as one of his reasons for running.

“The Democratic Party needs to stop acting like it’s competing against a normal political party that plays by the rules, and it needs a bold vision for how to raise living standards, quality of life and security for all Americans,” Chakrabarti wrote in the social media post. “America is stuck, and Americans want real solutions that are as big as the problems we face.”

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