Labor and civil-rights icon Dolores Huerta has endorsed state Sen. Scott Wiener over San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan to replace retiring former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Congress, delivering a boost to a campaign that has struggled to match Chan’s overwhelming labor support.
Wiener posted the endorsement by 96-year-old Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers alongside César Chávez and is one of the country’s most influential labor leaders, July 20 on Instagram. In the statement, she praised Wiener’s record on economic justice, workers’ rights and immigrant communities.
“He stands with workers fighting for fair treatment, families struggling with an affordability crisis pricing them out of the state they built, tenants struggling with rent, and immigrant communities under attack,” Huerta said in a statement. “I know the difference between a politician who talks about justice and one who fights for it.”
Despite living in Bakersfield, Huerta has regularly weighed in on Bay Area politics. During San Francisco’s 2024 mayoral race, political organizers described a Huerta endorsement as an “ace in the hole” for mobilizing Latino voters.
Sam Lauter, a veteran political observer who supports Wiener, says Huerta’s endorsement makes sense given Wiener’s legislative track record. Lauter works as communications and public affairs consultant and serves on the board of pro-Israel advocacy group Democratic Majority for Israel.
“She’s worked with Scott in Sacramento,” Lauter said. “She knows how prolific a legislator he is, how hard he fights. People who are surprised should look in the mirror a little bit and really ask themselves if it’s that surprising.”
Wiener and Huerta have advocated alongside each other on progressive legislation, including Wiener’s efforts to establish a California estate tax aimed at addressing wealth inequality, which he introduced in 2019.
The endorsement nevertheless surprised many within organized labor.
While Wiener has secured support from the National Union of Healthcare Workers, the California Conference of Carpenters and the California Democratic Party Labor Caucus, Chan has been widely regarded as labor’s preferred candidate.
Her campaign highlights endorsements from 40 unions, and campaign manager Rudy Gonzalez took a leave of absence from his leadership positions at the San Francisco Building & Construction Trades Council and the San Francisco Labor Council to run her campaign.
Huerta has long evaluated candidates individually rather than following organized labor’s endorsements. She and the United Farm Workers, which endorsed Chan’s 2024 reelection campaign for supervisor, have endorsed different candidates in the past.
“She’s not someone who’s pressured into making an endorsement because all her friends have decided who they’re supporting,” Lauter said.
The endorsement comes as Israel and campaign finance have become recurring flashpoints in the race.
On July 21, advocacy group Track AIPAC, which is known for publicizing officials’ funding from Israel lobbying groups, announced its decision to ultimately endorse Chan after initially criticizing her campaign’s funding.
Days before the June primary, reports alleged that AIPAC and Democratic Majority for Israel had secretly funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to support Chan. The groups actually donated to independent PACs that later spent money backing Chan among many other candidates, not directly to her campaign.
Chan’s campaign rejected the idea that she received pro-Israel lobby support, noting she has pledged not to accept such contributions and has accused Israel of genocide in Gaza.
Wiener also faced criticism in June regarding his positions on Israel and Gaza.
Although he moved further left on the issue, including calling Israel’s actions in Gaza genocide and opposing offensive U.S. weapons transfers, some pro-Palestinian activists continued to criticize him while some pro-Israel Jewish community members said they felt alienated by his shift.
In two dramatic incidents that went viral, Wiener was confronted and harassed by anti-Israel activists at a Mission bar during a World Cup game and at the Trans March as he made his way to a Shabbat celebration in Dolores Park. The activists accused him of “supporting genocide” and falsely claimed he received money from AIPAC, among other accusations.
On July 15, the San Francisco Standard reported that Wiener’s campaign raked in $127,600 from roughly 1,090 contributions in the four-day aftermath of the Trans March incident, according to his campaign’s filing with the Federal Election Commission.
The Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club issued a statement July 18 condemning “these self-serving actions” and urging “politicians to stop using vulnerable communities as a fundraising tool.”
Lauter said he hoped voters who feel that Wiener is too critical of Israel nevertheless view the senator’s record in the broader context of his longstanding relationship with the Jewish community.
“I understand our community’s struggle with positions that Scott has taken,” Lauter said. “But I hope that folks understand … how devoted Scott is to his community, our community.”