Scott Wiener Wins Pelosi Seat as SF Opens Artist Housing and Cotogna

San Francisco's political, cultural, and culinary institutions entered a new chapter this week as state Sen. Scott Wiener won the race to succeed retiring Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi in Congress, city officials unveiled certification rules for a 94-unit affordable artist housing tower on Market Street, and Jackson Square restaurant Cotogna announced a three-month kitchen overhaul.

Scott Wiener Defeats Connie Chan in California's 11th Congressional District

State Sen. Scott Wiener will become the first openly gay representative for San Francisco—and Northern California—in the U.S. House of Representatives after District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan conceded the 11th Congressional District race on Wednesday. As reported by KALW 91.7 and follow-up KALW coverage, Wiener took the stage around 9:15 p.m. Tuesday at the Swedish-American Hall on Market Street as early returns showed him leading 55.4% to 44.6%, while Chan addressed supporters at Gray Area in the Mission District.

By Wednesday afternoon, with 164,000 ballots remaining to be counted, The San Francisco Standard and NBC Bay Area reported that Wiener held a 55.5% to 44.5% lead (97,876 votes to 78,594 votes), or roughly 55% to 44% with 57% of the vote counted according to KTVU FOX 2. Chan, who immigrated from Hong Kong to Chinatown at age 13, graduated from Galileo High School, and was endorsed by Pelosi, congratulated Wiener in a Wednesday statement while thanking Pelosi for nearly 40 years of House service. Chan will remain on the Board of Supervisors until her term ends in January 2029.

According to The San Francisco Standard's campaign analysis and the San Francisco Examiner, Wiener—who served as District 8 supervisor and has authored more than 100 state laws since entering the California Senate in 2016—finished first in the June primary with 40.71% ahead of Chan's 29.7% and Saikat Chakrabarti's 17.87%. As of October 14, Wiener had raised $5.8 million compared with Chan's $2.4 million, while independent expenditure committees including Abundant Future PAC (run by Dan Newman) spent at least $11.6 million backing Wiener versus $3.1 million for Chan, whose spokesperson Ian Krager noted the financial gap of more than $10 million. Field committee treasurer Todd David noted that internal canvassing data showed Wiener outperforming in Asian American and Pacific Islander neighborhoods, bolstered by his Medi-Cal acupuncture law and funding for Chinese Hospital. In his victory statement, Wiener honored predecessors Phil Burton, Sala Burton, and Nancy Pelosi, and pledged to advance housing, universal health care, clean energy, public transit, high-speed rail, and AI regulation.

San Francisco Sets Certification Criteria for 94-Unit Artist Housing Lottery

At Gough and Market streets, the city is preparing its first affordable housing lottery prioritizing working artists inside a 15-story, 94-unit tower at 1687 Market St. scheduled to open in 2028, according to The San Francisco Standard. Funded by a $100 million private donation in 2024 to SFJazz founder Randall Kline's nonprofit Artists Hub on Market (AHOM) on the former McRoskey Mattress Co. site (which closed after a 2018 sale), the development is co-developed with Mercy Housing California, led by president Tiffany Bohee. Mercy will operate the upper residential levels while AHOM operates ground-floor rehearsal studios, a café, and a 99-seat black box theater.

Under legislation sponsored by Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman, applicants qualify as artists by demonstrating they earned $10,000 or more in three of the last five years across performing, literary, visual, folk, media, or mixed-discipline arts, by receiving a foundation, nonprofit, or government grant within the last three years, or through portfolio review by the San Francisco Arts Commission. Arts Commission communications director Coma Te said the agency hopes to receive 10,000 early interest forms ahead of next spring's certification opening to identify 1,000 income-qualified applicants, with studios priced at $962 a month for a two-person household earning $46,440 and two-bedroom units at $3,394 a month for a five-person household earning up to $167,120. Forty percent of the units are reserved for neighborhood residents and 20% for displaced tenants, with guidance from Keith McNutt of the Entertainment Community Fund, which recently reviewed over 9,000 applicants (5,700 identifying as artists) for a 151-unit Hollywood project.

Cotogna to Close for Three-Month Kitchen Renovation Starting January 15

In Jackson Square, owners Michael and Lindsay Tusk confirmed to The San Francisco Standard that their Italian restaurant Cotogna will close for three months starting January 15 to double its cooking and prep space and replace its pizza oven. The kitchen was originally built for Cotogna's 36-seat indoor dining room—frequented by Mayor Daniel Lurie, Laurene Powell Jobs, Jony Ive, and Stanlee Gatti—rather than the roughly 100 outdoor seats added via its heated, olive-tree-lined parklet spanning four parking spaces on Pacific Avenue, crafted from salvaged wood by arborist and sawyer Evan Shipley. During the closure, the Tusks are also building out their all-day cafe Bar Coto at 596 Pacific Ave. (announced in 2023), while sister restaurant Quince serves a four-course lunch Friday and Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and wine bar Verjus (which reopened in fall 2024 after four years) opens Tuesday through Saturday.