At least half say they supported Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in the past but think it’s time for new representation in California’s 11th Congressional District, according to a new poll.
Pelosi is facing a primary challenge from several Democrats, including progressive candidate Saikat Chakrabarti, who previously served as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-N.Y.) chief of staff.
An internal poll done for Chakrabarti’s campaign, which was conducted by Beacon Research and first shared with The Hill, found 51 percent who said that they had supported Pelosi “in the past but now think it’s time for a change.”
The poll found a separate 31 percent who said they supported the former House Speaker in the past and still want her to represent the district, while 14 percent said they had never supported her.
The polling is notable as Pelosi, 85, has filed to run for reelection in 2026 but has not officially said whether she’ll be vying for her seat again. Conversations around age and “passing the torch” to younger leaders in the party has become a consistent message this cycle, with a handful of older Democrats in the Senate and House opting against reelection next year.
Though it’s an internal poll done for Chakrabarti’s campaign, the survey suggests that dynamic may be also playing out in the Democratic primary of Pelosi’s district, too.
The poll found in a three-way matchup between Pelosi, Chakrabarti and Republican candidate David Ganezer, 46 percent chose or leaned toward the incumbent; 29 percent supported the progressive candidate and 11 percent supported Ganezer.
Respondents were next given a series of statements summarizing both Democrats positively. Respondents were told Chakrabarti while working for Ocasio-Cortez, “ran her 2018 upset victory, and launched the Green New Deal with her.”
They were also told that “prior to that, he was the director of technology for Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign, and co-founded Justice Democrats,” among details of his background. Most importantly, they were informed of his age off the bat at 39 years old.
Meanwhile, respondents were told of Pelosi: “First elected in 1987, Pelosi has twice served as Speaker of the House and was the first woman to lead either major party in Congress. Throughout her career, Pelosi has played a major role in passing major legislation, including the Affordable Care Act, infrastructure investments, and climate policy bills, as well as measures to protect civil rights,” among other aspects of her biography.
The summary also includes her age as one of the first points as well.
When respondents were again asked about a hypothetical three-way matchup between Pelosi, Chakrabarti and Ganezer, the messaging benefited the former top Ocasio-Cortez aide. Forty-four percent of respondents chose Chakrabarti, while 36 percent chose Pelosi and 11 percent chose the Republican.
“In 2018, when I helped run AOC’s race, Democrats wanted new leaders with a new vision. And the appetite for change today dwarfs what I saw back then,” Chakrabarti said in a statement to The Hill regarding the polling.
“This poll proves our theory: when voters hear about our campaign, we win by six points,” he added. “And because we’ve already hosted hundreds of town halls, knocked on tens of thousands of doors, and spoken with voters across San Francisco, we have the energy and resources to make sure every voter hears our message. That’s why we will win.”
Pelosi faces several Democratic challengers in her primary to represent California’s 11th Congressional District in San Francisco, though Chakrabarti represents likely her most competitive challenger.
Though the polling should be taken with a grain salt, the survey indicates that there may be a window for another Democratic challenger to potentially unseat the San Francisco lawmaker — albeit a hard-fought one given her long history serving in the House and the accomplishments she shepherded in as a two-time Speaker and her connections to major donors and other high-profile Democrats.
The poll from Beacon Research was conducted with 600 registered voters in the 11th Congressional District between Sept. 12-20. Among those interviews, they included 173 live phone interviews and 427 text-to-web interviews.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
