Connie Chan Urges Patience as Scott Wiener Leads in Early Returns

At 9:12 p.m. on Nov. 3, pizza was being served at Gray Area in San Francisco’s Mission District. Reporters checked their phones, photographers stood by and supporters of congressional candidate Connie Chan waited for more votes to be counted.

When Chan spoke, she gave the crowd two instructions: Be patient with the count, and “party on.”

“We knew, I knew, we all knew that this would be a hard-fought race,” Chan said. “And tonight, it remains too early to call.”

As election night ended, state Sen. Scott Wiener led Chan, San Francisco’s District 1 supervisor, by more than 17,000 votes. Wiener had 87,641 votes, or 55.4%, to Chan’s 70,511, or 44.6%. The preliminary tally included 158,152 votes, an estimated 51.4% of the total. The race remained too early to call.

Both candidates are Democrats running to succeed retiring Rep. Nancy Pelosi in California’s 11th Congressional District. Wiener also finished ahead of Chan in the June primary. Pelosi endorsed Chan.

At Gray Area, Chan’s supporters talked about the work that had gone into getting voters to the polls. Dominic Chan, a volunteer field manager, said he came out of retirement to help the campaign after 35 years in the labor movement. He said the candidate offered him a salary, but he turned it down because he thought the campaign needed the money more than he did.

He said volunteers went out in ponchos and raincoats Tuesday and kept making calls until the end of the day. When they met voters, he said, they told them why they had volunteered. For him, it was seeing neighbors displaced over the 25 years he had lived in San Francisco.

“It shows that people's power can beat big money,” he said when asked what a victory would mean.

Arielle Park, a security officer and member of SEIU United Service Workers West, knocked on doors and called voters through her union. She came to Gray Area hoping for a victory party.

“It means we have more representation for labor in the House of Representatives,” Park said when asked what a win would mean. She said she backed Chan’s approach to building housing while protecting tenants and small businesses from displacement.

District 11 Supervisor Chyanne Chen said that a Chan victory would give Asian Americans another person to look up to. She also said that Chan’s appeal reached beyond that community, pointing to her support for affordable housing and access to health care.

Onstage, Chan thanked Pelosi, her family and the volunteers who had knocked on doors. Then she talked about her mother. Chan was 13 when her mother brought her and her brother to San Francisco. They found a home in a one-bedroom, rent-controlled apartment in Chinatown.

Chan said the people who care for seniors, teach children and keep the city running should be able to build a future here. She said immigrant children arriving today deserve the same welcome she received.

Before closing, she asked supporters to stay in touch while the count continued.

“If you hear from us about helping voters to resolve ballot issues,” Chan said, “please step up.”