Scott Wiener, Author of California's AI Safety Law, Wins Pelosi's House Seat

Wiener led Chan by about 55.5% to 44.5% in preliminary results, or 97,876 votes to 78,594 in San Francisco Department of Elections figures released on Wednesday afternoon. Counting continues. Chan said that after reviewing the results and the ballots still outstanding, "we do not have a clear path to victory."

The result means one of the few American legislators who has actually written and passed a law on frontier AI will be in Congress, where Democrats made large gains in Tuesday's midterms. Wiener's victory statement included a pledge to "rein in the threat of artificial intelligence", alongside promises on housing, universal health care and clean energy.

The Law He Brings to Washington

Wiener's SB 53, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2025, requires the biggest AI companies to write safety policies for managing severe risks from their models, comply with them, and report on them. It followed SB 1047, a broader Wiener bill that Newsom vetoed in 2024 after strong opposition from parts of the industry. Anthropic endorsed SB 53 before it passed, while several other developers lobbied against earlier versions.

The Information, which first reported the significance of the win for AI policy, noted that SB 53 and the companies that backed it offer a guide to the sort of AI rules a Democratic-controlled Congress could support. Federal lawmakers have so far passed no comprehensive AI statute, and the Trump administration has sought to stop states from writing their own rules.

AI Money in the Race

The campaign drew money from the AI policy fight. Public First Action, an AI policy group funded largely by Anthropic, committed more than $3.5 million to support Wiener, including $500,000 directed to a super PAC backing him and a further $3 million announced in October. A spokesperson for the group has said none of the $3.5 million given to the pro-Wiener super PAC came from Anthropic itself. Chan and some former Pelosi allies criticised Wiener's ties to the AI industry during the campaign, and Saikat Chakrabarti, who finished third in the June primary, accused AI money of backing Wiener because of his legislation.

Pelosi, who has represented San Francisco since 1987, endorsed Chan. Wiener described his win as historic because he will be the first openly LGBTQ member of Congress to represent San Francisco or any part of Northern California. The race also turned heavily on Israel and Gaza, an issue on which both candidates staked out positions critical of the Israeli government.

Wiener's arrival in Washington comes as AI regulation moves to the centre of national politics. Chip stocks fell sharply on Wednesday and Thursday as investors weighed the prospect of tighter rules on AI and data centres under a Democratic House, and the pro-AI super PAC network Leading the Future ended the midterms with few wins in competitive races. The new Congress will be sworn in in January 2027.