Connie Chan

Background

Connie Chan was born in Hong Kong and moved to San Francisco at 13 with her mother and younger brother. She graduated from Galileo High School and the University of California, Davis. She worked as a volunteer interpreter and a community organizer, then as a legislative aide to Supervisor Sophie Maxwell starting in 2006, and later as an aide to then-District Attorney Kamala Harris, Supervisor Aaron Peskin and then-Assemblymember Kevin Mullin. She also held administrative roles at the Recreation and Park Department and City College of San Francisco. She lives in the Richmond District with her longtime partner, Ed, a San Francisco firefighter, and their son, who attends public school there.

In office

Chan was elected in November 2020 and took office January 8, 2021. In November 2024 she won a rematch with Marjan Philhour, leading by 1,167 votes in the ranked-choice tally. District 1 covers the Inner, Central and Outer Richmond, Lone Mountain, Golden Gate Park, Lincoln Park, Sea Cliff and Presidio Terrace. She has chaired the board's Budget Committee since February 2023 and sits on the County Transportation Authority and the Local Agency Formation Commission.

Announcing her run for Congress on November 20, 2025, she pointed to tenant protections, free Muni for youth and higher wages for city workers. The American Prospect reports that she has voted to ban police use of facial recognition, stop AI algorithms landlords use to set prices, and pause new data centers. Mayor Daniel Lurie signed the board's 45-day data center moratorium on October 16, 2026.

On housing, she has written to the Planning Commission (September 9, 2025), the Land Use Committee (October 20, 2025) and the mayor (November 17, 2025) about his upzoning plan. In her launch video she promised to "build real affordable housing, not the Sacramento version that destroys our neighborhoods."

In the House race she backs Medicare for All, a full moratorium on data centers, a voice for unions in AI regulation, a full arms embargo on Israel and abolishing ICE.

On the ballot

Chan's District 1 seat is next on the ballot November 7, 2028, and her term runs to January 8, 2029. On November 3, 2026, she faces State Senator Scott Wiener, also a Democrat, for the open District 11 House seat. Nancy Pelosi endorsed her on May 18, 2026. Preliminary June primary results gave her about 29 percent to Wiener's 41 percent. She outraised him from July through September ($1.1 million to $936,000), while he leads in total money raised, $5.3 million to $2.2 million.

Joe Arellano, a spokesperson for Wiener's campaign, said Chan has “never done anything about AI except put out social media videos” since deciding to run for Congress (Mission Local, October 13, 2026).