Scott Wiener is an effective legislator who will thoughtfully build on Nancy Pelosi’s legacy as San Francisco’s representative in the House, the editorial board says.

How do you replace a political icon?

That’s the question San Franciscans face as they weigh the 11 candidates running in the June primary to succeed retiring 20-term Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

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Given the crop before them, voters essentially have three paths to choose from:

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They can try to thoughtfully build on her legacy, they can select someone who will struggle under its weight or they can burn that legacy to the ground in hopes something better rises from the ashes.

You’ll find the burn-down approach in the platform of tech engineer-turned Democratic political activist Saikat Chakrabarti.

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It was Chakrabarti who dared to first challenge Pelosi before she officially announced her retirement. He didn’t do so merely to breathe fresh air into an aging Democratic Party; Chakrabarti speaks of reinventing the nation’s economy with policies modeled after the New Deal and fundamentally reshaping the American global order that Pelosi helped to grow and maintain.

Chakrabarti is best known for taking out the No. 4 Democrat in the House, Rep. Joe Crowley, while running the campaign of an unknown 28-year-old candidate named Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Chakrabarti is a savvy political thinker — but one with virtually no experience inside government. He served as AOC’s chief of staff for only a few months before exiting in a swirl of controversy.

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See all of the Chronicle editorial board’s endorsements for California’s June primary election and get info on every race and measure on Bay........

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