The man who helped propel Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) to victory during her first congressional race is mounting his own campaign to oust one of the most powerful Democratic elders in the country.
On Wednesday, Saikat Chakrabarti announced he would challenge Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) during California’s 2026 Democratic primary, citing a deep disdain for his party’s establishment, which he said had created an environment of defeat, stagnation, and antipathy to change.
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“Pelosi said the Democrats don’t need to change. I disagree,” Chakrabarti wrote in a post to X. “I know it might seem it’s a little early to start running. But the fact is, it’s almost impossible to defeat incumbents in our system — even at a time when both Congress and the Democratic Party stand at record-low approval ratings.”
Chakrabarti has feuded with Pelosi since he spearheaded Ocasio-Cortez’s 2018 campaign, when the youthful progressive shocked the political world by scoring an upset primary win against then-Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY). With the 10-term Democratic incumbent being widely favored by the party’s establishment to win the primary election, Crowley’s loss marked the winds of change sweeping into Congress as three progressives similar to Ocasio-Cortez ascended to power, becoming known as “the Squad.”
When Ocasio-Cortez and her “Squad” assumed office, 84-year-old Pelosi, viewed as the standard bearer of the old guard of the Democratic Party, was initially dismissive, suggesting they were just four people “without any following.” Pelosi subsequently developed bad blood with Chakrabarti himself when Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign manager, who became her chief of staff following the 2018 election, issued statements mocking the aging “legislative mastermind.”
But Pelosi let her rage fully fly after he inserted himself into an intra-party feud over border funding in 2019. At the time, Chakrabarti’s comments on social media insinuated moderate Democrats were similar to Jim Crow era “Southern Democrats, whom he said were “hell-bent” on doing poorly by minorities. Pelosi publicly rebuked his comments as “offensive,” and told her caucus to “not tweet about our members and expect us to think that that is just OK.”
Now, Chakrabarti wants to push Pelosi out of Congress, suggesting that after decades in Washington, it’s time she allowed a new generation of progressive leaders to push the Democratic Party forward.
In his campaign announcement Wednesday, Chakrabarti expressed anger that Pelosi had blocked Ocasio-Cortez’s move to chair the powerful House Oversight Committee. Pelosi instead backed establishment favorite Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), a nine-term lawmaker twice as old as 35-year-old Ocasio-Cortez.
Chakrabarti suggested the days of seniority determining power in his party are numbered, arguing that new blood is needed for Democrats to rebound after suffering bruising defeats at the White House, Senate, and House during the 2024 elections.
“Watching Trump and Elon [Musk] freely unleash chaos in their illegal seizure of government, it’s become clear to me that the Democratic Party needs new leadership. I don’t understand how DC’s Democratic leaders are so paralyzed and unprepared for this moment after living through President Trump’s first term — and after Trump and Elon warned us exactly what they planned to do,” Chakrabarti said.
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Shortly after she won her 20th term in November, Pelosi filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission clearing her to mount another campaign for the 2026 midterm elections.
Weeks later, she suffered a fall that led to her hospitalization and hip replacement surgery in December.
