San Francisco, California - Ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a new challenger for her congressional seat: 39-year-old Saikat Chakrabarti.

"I’ve got some news: I've decided to run against Nancy Pelosi to represent San Francisco in Congress. I know some of you might be surprised that Speaker Emeritus Pelosi is running again, but she is – for her 21st term!" Chakrabarti announced on social media.

"I respect what Nancy Pelosi has accomplished in her career, but we are living in a totally different America than the one she knew when she entered politics 45 years ago," he added.

Chakrabarti said he was compelled to run after witnessing the "illegal seizure of government" by Donald Trump and Elon Musk and Washington Democrats' inability to rein in the chaos. He believes he can help bring "new leadership" to the Democratic Party.

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The Harvard-educated software engineer served as 2018 campaign manager and then first chief of staff for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He resigned in 2019 to join the New Consensus think tank.

"The Democratic Party needs to stop acting like it's competing against a normal political party that plays by the rules, and it needs a bold vision for how to raise living standards, quality of life and security for all Americans," Chakrabarti wrote.

"America is stuck, and Americans want real solutions that are as big as the problems we face."

At 84 years old, Pelosi is one of the longest-serving members of Congress, having been in the House since 1987. She filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission in advance of the 2026 midterms shortly after last November's elections.

Chakrabarti says he will need to pursue a bold strategy in order to unseat the incumbent representative.

"I'm going to run a very different kind of campaign than most," the congressional hopeful insisted. "Instead of spending hours each day doing 'call time' with big money donors – I'm going to spend every day talking with voters. I know! What a radical idea!"

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The candidate's game plan also includes weekly Zoom calls open to all to discuss key issues. His campaign website states that he is not accepting corporate PAC money.

"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 acknowledged.

"Winning this campaign will require months of organizing – online and on the street – to connect with every single voter in San Francisco. I'm excited for the work."