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Even some progressive locals were unimpressed. One social media commenter asked bluntly, “Dude what is this? Just focus on affordability please.” Another wrote, “The guy has zero track record in San Francisco. Bad choice, Peaches.”
Chakrabarti’s opponent, State Senator Scott Wiener, didn’t hold back. “My opponent is using his vast personal wealth to try to buy a seat in Congress. I’m not worth hundreds of millions like he is, but what I do have is decades of real experience delivering for San Francisco,” Wiener said.
The campaign rollout also conveniently omits a critical chapter of Chakrabarti’s past. In August 2019, he abruptly resigned from AOC’s office the same week federal investigators opened a probe into two PACs he founded: Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats.
The complaint alleged these PACs funneled more than $885,000 into private companies Chakrabarti controlled—companies that weren’t required to disclose their finances fully. The National Legal and Policy Center described it as “the most blatant scheme we have seen to avoid transparency and accountability concerning campaign finance laws.” The case was ultimately dismissed, with no charges filed.
Still, the pattern is clear: large sums of money, opaque structures, and sudden exits when scrutiny arrives. Now Chakrabarti is financing his congressional bid almost entirely from his own wealth. Of the $1.8 million his campaign reported through the end of 2025, $1.5 million came from his personal accounts. Most outside donations came from outside California. Wiener’s campaign called it “a borderline billionaire carpet-bagger with an entirely astroturf campaign.”
Chakrabarti himself has acknowledged that his primary residence is near Washington, D.C.—not in San Francisco. Yet he’s aiming to represent a city with median home prices north of $1 million, a public transit system disrupted by protests, and a homelessness crisis that has made national headlines.
In a January debate, he remarked that inequality is something “we don’t talk about enough.” But in a city suffering from extreme housing costs and daily street chaos, this rhetoric feels out of touch. And let’s not forget: Chakrabarti once admitted the Green New Deal “wasn’t originally a climate thing at all” – it was about changing “the entire economy.” He wasn’t hiding his agenda; he was laying it bare.
Meanwhile, San Francisco voters have real, experienced options this June. State Senator Scott Wiener has spent decades delivering for the city. Supervisor Connie Chan, backed by Adam Schiff, has deep community ties. Both actually live in the city.
Chakrabarti, on the other hand, brings a drag queen, $50 million in Stripe equity, and a pattern of moving into cities to push his radical policies—only to retreat when the scrutiny starts. San Francisco deserves better than political theater fueled by personal wealth.
