As he runs for Congress, we’re all going to see a lot more of Saikat Chakrabarti — and we’ll be hearing from his critics as they debate his progressive bonafides, or lack thereof.
Chakrabarti is running for Congress in California's 11th Congressional District, which covers nearly all of San Francisco, hoping to replace incumbent Rep. Nancy Pelosi in 2026. Pelosi’s dominance in the last 30 years makes her the most formidable politician in the Bay, but Chakrabarti believes he can break through as a more-left candidate willing to be critical of the Democratic establishment.
“This is about an overwhelming demand for change right now,” Chakrabarti declared at a launch party for his campaign on Oct. 9.
His campaigners are sprouting around San Francisco, waving colorful signs at gatherings like this weekend’s Potrero Hill R&B Festival. He’s knocking on doors, with a goal to reach 100,000 voters. And his image as a self-styled progressive disruptor is gaining ground in the public eye.
In June, leftist commentator Cenk Uygur, who founded the Justice Democrats caucus alongside Chakrabarti and others, called him “the next Zohran Mamdani” on X. Uygur wasn’t the only one to compare Chakrabarti to the charismatic New York City mayoral candidate. A recent Current Affairs podcast framed his campaign the same way, asking “Is this San Francisco’s Zohran Mamdani?”
Mamdani built his political career in the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, the biggest leftist group in the country. The SF chapter, meanwhile, remains skeptical that Chakrabarti can be SF’s Zohran, no matter what his cofounder and the media says.
Aditya Bhumbla, co-chair of DSA SF, acknowledged Chakrabarti’s relationships with congressional progressives, including his time as chief of staff for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and his work with Sen. Bernie Sanders on the 2016 presidential campaign. Bhumbla also told me that some of Chakrabarti’s positions, including calling the war in Gaza a genocide and demanding Medicare For All, are pressing priorities for progressives around the country.
Bhumbla was, however, quick to say that Chakrabarti does not have a track record of pushing radical politics in the Bay Area. Chakrabarti, a Harvard grad, moved to SF in 2009 and built his immense wealth — “at least” $167 million, which may be even more than Pelosi, per Business Insider — as a founding engineer at the fintech company Stripe.
Bhumbla critiqued Chakrabarti’s lack of grassroots political work since then, which they noted is critical for progressive blocs, especially after backlash against the left in recent election cycles.
“Someone like [Mamdani] leaned into this hard, non-flashy, ground-up movement-building that takes years and years to do in a meaningful way. It’s not about just putting the right people in Congress,” Bhumbla said. “It seems like Saikat is going straight for the top, though, because of his resources. We’re concerned Saikat is not as much of a movement-builder.”
While DSA is not formally opposed to Chakrabarti, the candidate’s mention of the organization in an August interview with podcaster Briahna Joy Gray motivated DSA SF to release a statement that Chakrabarti is not a DSA member or a socialist, and that he is not endorsed by DSA.
In a statement to Gazetteer, Chakrabarti said he was a “big supporter” of local nonprofits such as the SF-Marin Food Bank, Housing Accelerator Fund, and affordable housing group NPH, and also advocated for Prop. 5, the bill to boost local affordable housing funding, in the 2024 election cycle. Chakrabarti’s agenda also includes making public colleges and trade schools free, prohibiting stock-trading by members of Congress, and building “tens of thousands of homes” in SF. He has also promised to self-fund his campaign.
Now, Chakrabarti has drawn flak for his history of supporting centrist candidates over progressives.
In last year’s race, he fought for Bilal Mahmood over Supervisor Dean Preston, who was backed by DSA SF, in the race for District 5. Mahmood campaigned to the right of Preston, claiming the latter mishandled housing, crime, and drug crises in the district, which includes the Tenderloin. Chakrabarti also gave $10,000 to Mahmood’s campaign for a seat at the SF Democratic County Central Committee, which oversees all official party decisions in the city.
Another $500 went to Michael Lai, who opposed progressive Chyanne Chen in the supervisor race for District 11. Both Lai and Mahmood were promoted by GrowSF, the centrist PAC criticized for its dark money connections.
Brandee Marckmann, a progressive organizer who worked with the Bernie Sanders-associated nonprofit Our Revolution, told me that Chakrabarti’s positions in the 2024 election cycle are problematic. The group endorsed Preston for reelection to the Board of Supervisors and a “slate of amazing progressive organizers and union leaders” for DCCC seats, Marckmann said.
“At nearly every turn, Saikat thwarted Our Revolution’s work in San Francisco…Why on Earth would anyone believe that Saikat Chakrabarti will move the Democratic Party to the left when nearly all he’s done in San Francisco is move it to the right?” Marckmann told me.
Chakrabarti naturally disagrees, insisting that his focus in SF has been on “solving our biggest material crises,” including lack and high cost of housing.
“I believe we can protect tenants and build deeply affordable housing at scale. That means cutting the unnecessary red tape that slows projects down and massively increasing public financing and social housing,” Chakrabarti said in his email. “I’ve supported candidates locally who share that vision, even when we didn’t agree on everything.
“I understand that some in the local progressive movement may disagree with those choices, and that’s okay. What I hope we can all agree on is that we’re not going to solve San Francisco’s problems by equating disagreement within a movement with betrayal.”
It isn’t just the DSA crowd and radical organizers in SF that harbor doubts about Chakrabarti. Curious about the perspective from legacy progressives, I reached out to former Supervisor Aaron Peskin. He began our chat by stating he is backing Pelosi, whom he said is most qualified to head the district during a time of political chaos.
But Peskin was also candid when I asked him whether SF voters are ready for someone who is to the left of Pelosi, and whether he imagines supporting such a candidate.
“Yes and yes. Sounds good, if there was someone truly appealing that was going to stand up to the system,” Peskin said. “But Mr. Chakrabarti is not Zohran Mamdani. He’s already proven that with his political expenditures.”
Peskin recalled exchanging hellos with Chakrabarti at an event in September, but has otherwise not spoken to him. Peskin also claimed that Chakrabarti has not spent any time reaching out to “the lions of progressive San Francisco,” be it himself, former Assembly member Tom Ammiano, former Supervisor Matt Gonzalez, Preston, and others.
“He has absolutely no track record of doing anything or being part of any political movement here beyond a few moderate political donations. He can run around and claim to have some storied history with AOC,” Peskin said, “but I don’t think he is qualified to represent San Francisco.”
