- “We’re at a moment in time when authoritarianism is rising and the rule of law is under assault,” Scott Wiener
SAN FRANCISCO — State Senator Scott Wiener spoke with the Vanguard about his decision to run for Congress to represent San Francisco, punctuating the urgency of defending democracy, rebuilding federal capacity, and addressing national challenges on housing, healthcare, and climate policy.
Wiener said that his decision to enter the race came after years of public service in San Francisco and the California State Senate.
“It has been a real honor to represent San Francisco locally then in the state Senate,” he said. “We have big problems that we’ve helped lead on in California around housing, healthcare access, climate, clean energy, and we need to take that fight national. And so I’m really excited about representing San Francisco in Congress.”
He described the campaign as an extension of his long-standing work to strengthen democratic institutions.
“We’re at a moment in time when authoritarianism is rising and the rule of law is under assault,” Wiener said, noting that the stakes are higher than ever for progressive governance and effective policymaking.
When asked about succeeding former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Wiener expressed deep admiration and humility.
“She’s moved mountains for San Francisco and for the country, and we all owe her a huge debt of gratitude,” he said. “There will never be another Nancy Pelosi. She’s probably the most effective speaker in U.S. history. And so I will be Scott Wiener because there will never be another Nancy Pelosi — I’ll do my own type of leadership.”
A defining part of Wiener’s platform centers on housing policy.
“If you’re not intentional about housing policy, if you don’t have good planning for future housing needs, you can easily create a disaster,” he said. “That’s what happened in California. It’s happened in other places.”
Wiener pointed to the federal government’s withdrawal from housing investment about 45 years ago as a turning point that contributed to the national homelessness crisis.
“We need the federal government to get back into the business of housing,” he said. “The federal government used to play a huge role in public housing, which we now call social housing. We need to get the federal government back into that space.”
He emphasized that reinvestment in housing should go hand in hand with workforce development and modernization of the construction industry.
“We need a massive push for social housing and working with state and local governments to make it happen and providing funding,” he said. “The federal government has a role to play in working with the construction industry to modernize the industry, also to expand vocational and apprenticeship programs for construction workers, both for housing and infrastructure, and making sure that the construction workforce is high skilled, well-paid and not boom or bust.”
Wiener clarified that his vision does not mean eliminating local control but rather aligning resources and incentives.
“It’s a balance and it’s not about the federal government taking over local control,” he said. “It’s about the federal government providing resources and creating financial incentives to have good housing policy.”
He said that if he were to write a federal housing bill, it would begin by rebuilding the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“HUD is a shadow of what it used to be,” he said. “I’d like to restrengthen HUD and allow it to provide funding for social housing to states and local governments. Create incentives for state and local governments to create this kind of housing and then provide the support to allow it to happen.”
Wiener also described a broader agenda of rebuilding public institutions weakened under the Trump administration.
“Once we get these fascists out of office and take our government back, there’s going to be a lot of work to do to repair the damage that they’ve done in so many realms,” he said. “We are going to have to rebuild government capacity, and when we rebuild government capacity, we should build back better. We want to make sure that we’re building back the capacity Trump stripped away, but let’s make it even more effective than it was before.”
Beyond housing, Wiener highlighted healthcare reform as a core issue.
“Healthcare access has always been a huge priority for me,” he said. He pointed to California’s regulation of pharmacy benefit managers, expansion of mental health parity laws, and efforts to reduce improper insurance denials as models for federal legislation.
“Of course, I’m an advocate for Medicare for All or single payer or whatever you want to call it,” he said. “That’s something that will always be a focus for me as well.”
Wiener said clean energy expansion would also be central to his work in Congress.
“We were moving in a good direction under President Biden, and the Neanderthals that are running the government now have decided to kneecap the clean energy industry,” he said. “We need to turn that around because clean energy is the future.”
He added that he plans to continue focusing on technology policy, artificial intelligence regulation, and net neutrality. He also pledged to strengthen federal protections for LGBTQ people and repair damage to the immigration system.
“We have to fix what they’ve done to the immigration system and all the people who’ve been wrongfully deported who need to be allowed to come — we need to bring them back to this country,” he said.
On immigration, Wiener criticized the current administration’s actions as discriminatory and destructive.
“Donald Trump is a pathological liar and he lied all through the campaign and they’re still lying today,” he said. “The vast majority of people they are going after have not committed any crimes. It’s really just straight-up racist xenophobia because they’re trying to expand immigration for white people. And it’s disgusting and it’s harming the country.”
Wiener said he was alarmed by recent threats to deploy ICE and National Guard troops in San Francisco.
“We were very deeply concerned that ICE and the National Guard, but particularly ICE, was going to come in and wreak havoc in San Francisco like they’ve wreaked in Chicago and LA and other cities,” he said. “I’m grateful that the mayor was able to make that not happen.”
Turning to San Francisco’s recovery from the pandemic, Wiener expressed cautious optimism.
“It’s been a tough five years,” he said. “Things have really turned around. There’s a great energy in the city. The streets look really good. Crime is down. Lots of amazing street festivals, new businesses opening. The neighborhoods are doing well, downtown has a ways to go, but it’s moving in the right direction.”
When asked about homelessness and federal funding cuts, Wiener criticized Trump’s policies.
“That’s par for the course for Donald Trump and his cult,” he said. “It’s never about rationality or the facts or good policy. It’s all … like the worst kind of frat house where you have these buffoons who are just doing whatever random things they want to do that make them feel important and powerful.”
Despite his strong criticism of the current administration, Wiener said he remains optimistic about the country’s resilience.
“This country has gone through hard times before,” he said. “We need to find a way to make our democracy more durable so that we don’t have these extreme oscillations every few years where you can’t assume that our system of government will continue.”
On the state of the Democratic Party, Wiener said it must remain committed to improving the lives of working people.
“We’re the party that supports regular people, and we need to show that we can make people’s lives better,” he said. “The system has not been meeting people’s needs. The cost of living is through the roof. Energy is too expensive, housing is too expensive, childcare is too expensive. And we’ve allowed that to happen.”
He said the resulting frustration has opened the door to populist movements.
“A grifter like Donald Trump can come in and say, ‘I’m going to make everything cheap.’ Of course he has no solutions and he’s making things worse.”
Wiener said his campaign is focused on restoring stability, effectiveness, and faith in democracy.
“We need to fight for democracy, and we need to fight to make people’s lives better and more affordable,” he said. “Even if it means challenging status quo orthodoxy, we have to be willing to do new things to make people’s lives better and more affordable.”
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May God have mercy on our souls.
This guy has been “running against Trump” ever since Trump’s first term – apparently to deflect attention away from his war against his own constituents/communities. Unfortunately, the system itself ensures that no other choice survives the political process, on the Democratic side. (Obviously, ANY Republican would likely lose in Wiener’s districts over the years.)
And yet, Wiener cozies-up to the same industries that Trump does.
Regarding public housing/HUD, I see no mention from Wiener of the problems it caused the first time – some of which still occurs to this day.
RO say, “And yet, Wiener cozies-up to the same industries that Trump does.”
Rule 1 on why Alan C. Miller quit political parties 40 years ago.
RO say, “Regarding public housing/HUD, I see no mention from Wiener of the problems it caused the first time – some of which still occurs to this day.”
What I’m noticing is that after two generations, society as a whole seems to forget the major mistakes “we” learned from, so political shills can do it all over again, yet again.
“Rule 1 on why Alan C. Miller quit political parties 40 years ago.”
The problem is that the political parties are the ones who quit “you” (and “me”) 40 years (or more), ago.
As George Carlin said, you have no (actual) choice.
(Also the reason that George Carlin didn’t vote, per his own “comedy” routine – which actually wasn’t comedy.)
From what I can tell, most of the system can be explained by “follow the money”.
(Note that George Carlin also did not single-out politicians, in regard to that. Instead, he said that maybe it’s the “public” that sucks – since that’s the source of all this. Needless to say, he also noted that this probably isn’t a winning campaign message.)
Great article, it’s not our Congressional race but it is of national importance. I’d be interested in hearing what Scott Weiner has done to make sure his policies in California have been operationalized to improve working people’s lives. A recent example is the horrifying NYT Magazine article about child trafficking in LA, a situation that Weiner’s own bill contributed to as an unintended consequence. What has he done to fix this? I wasn’t very impressed with the solutions he offered around housing, these are the same mainstream Democratic playbooks around more federal funding and HUD, which feels like an excuse to do nothing and blame Republicans. What tangible improvements to people’s lives has he accomplished in the CA Legislature?
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/magazine/sex-trafficking-girls-la-figueroa.html?unlocked_article_code=1.xk8.zLtZ.zkGBJmRinHYf&smid=url-share
KG say, “What tangible improvements to people’s lives has he accomplished in the CA Legislature?”
His own, or other people’s? :-|
Missing from the story: Another opponent (Saikat Chakrabarti) says Weiner chose to suppress speech if it didn’t support the Gaza genocide… But, as Will Rogers used to say “If it weren’t for lies, there wouldn’t be any politics.”