Scott Wiener is a Jewish American lawyer and Democratic politician elected in November 2026 to represent California’s 11th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He defeated fellow Democrat Connie Chan to succeed retiring Representative Nancy Pelosi, becoming the first openly gay person to represent San Francisco in Congress.
Wiener was born on May 11, 1970, in Philadelphia and grew up in southern New Jersey in a Conservative Jewish family. The son of a small-business owner and a public-school teacher, he graduated from Duke University in 1992 and Harvard Law School in 1996. He moved to San Francisco in 1997 and settled in the Castro neighborhood.
Before entering elected office, Wiener clerked for a justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, worked in private legal practice, and served as a San Francisco deputy city attorney. Elected to the city’s Board of Supervisors in 2010, he represented District 8 from 2011
Wiener became known for legislation to increase housing construction, streamline development approvals, expand public transportation, and protect LGBTQ people. His legislative record also included HIV prevention, mental-health care, net neutrality, and corporate climate disclosures. His congressional platform emphasized housing affordability, Medicare for All, reproductive rights, immigration protections, and technology regulation.
Wiener served as co-chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus beginning in 2023 and helped advance legislation addressing anti-Semitism. He was a principal coauthor of AB 715, signed into law in October 2025, which strengthened protections against anti-Semitism and discrimination in public schools. His advocacy also included security funding for Jewish and other religious institutions.
His positions on Israel combined support for its existence as a Jewish homeland with increasingly severe criticism of its government. Citing his family’s flight from anti-Jewish violence in Eastern Europe and Russia, Wiener emphasized Israel’s importance to Jewish security. He supported a Palestinian state alongside Israel, opposed the global boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, and called for Hamas to disarm and have no role in a future Palestinian government.
In January 2026, Wiener changed his public characterization of Israel’s war in Gaza. At a January 7 congressional candidates’ forum, he declined to answer a yes-or-no question about whether Israel was committing genocide. On January 11, following criticism of his response, he declared that Israel had committed genocide. He attributed his earlier reluctance to the term’s association with the Holocaust and said Gaza’s destruction and statements by Israeli officials had persuaded him to use it.
The change drew criticism from Jewish organizations, including the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and the Bay Area Jewish Community Relations Council, which challenged his characterization and warned that inflammatory language could worsen hostility toward Jews. On January 22, Wiener announced that he would resign as Jewish Caucus co-chair effective February 15 while remaining a member. He cited both his congressional campaign and the controversy over his statements.
Wiener opposed offensive arms sales to an Israeli government that he regarded as unwilling to pursue peace. His platform supported continued provision of defensive systems such as Iron Dome and David’s Sling, while specifying that Israel should pay their costs rather than American taxpayers. He also pledged neither to seek nor accept AIPAC’s support, citing policy disagreements.
Wiener continued to face hostility from anti-Israel activists. In June 2026, demonstrators confronted him at San Francisco’s Trans March and, according to his account, forced him to leave. He described the confrontation as anti-Semitic. J Street supported his congressional candidacy, while Jewish Voice for Peace and the Bay Area chapter of IfNotNow backed Chan.
Sources: “Scott Wiener,” JoinCalifornia.
“Biography,” California State Senate.
“Meet Scott,” Scott Wiener for Congress.
“Priorities,” Scott Wiener for Congress.
“Foreign Policy,” Scott Wiener for Congress.
“Scott Wiener’s persistence pays off in District 8,” San Francisco Chronicle, (2010).
“A policy wonk who wants Nancy Pelosi’s House seat is unafraid of a fight,” AP, (February 22, 2026).
“Governor Newsom Signs Landmark Legislation to Combat Antisemitism in K-12 Schools,” California Legislative Jewish Caucus, (October 7, 2025).
Sydney Johnson, “Scott Wiener Pivots After Congressional Forum: ‘Israel Has Committed Genocide in Gaza’,” KQED, (January 12, 2026).
Philissa Cramer, “After accusing Israel of genocide, Scott Wiener steps down as Calif. Jewish Caucus co-chair,” Times of Israel, (January 23, 2026).
Shira Li Bartov, “Wiener to hold Pelosi’s House seat after race in which both candidates attacked Israel,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, (November 5, 2026).
Photo: California State Senate, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.