| Elected in November 2016 and reelected in 2020, Senator Scott Wiener represents District 11 in the California State Senate. District 11 includes all of San Francisco, Broadmoor, Colma, and Daly City, as well as portions of South San Francisco.
In the State Senate, Senator Wiener works day and night to make housing more affordable; strengthen and expand our public transportation systems; increase access to health care, including mental health and addiction treatment; ensure families have access to food, child care, paid family leave, and other critical supports; fight climate change and keep California in the lead on climate action; reform our broken criminal justice system; and safeguard and expand the rights of all communities, including immigrants and LGBTQ people.
Senator Wiener has been recognized by respected community organizations for his work. Larkin Street Youth Services honored Senator Wiener for his work to combat youth homelessness in California. Senator Wiener was named Legislator of the Year by the California Sexual Assault Investigators Association and California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, for his work reforming California's criminal justice system, and by the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition and California Building Industry Association for his work addressing California's housing shortage. He was also named Legislator of the Year by the California Solar & Storage Association for his work to expand clean energy, and by the American Red Cross for his advocacy to support blood donations during the COVID-19 pandemic and end discriminatory donation requirements for gay and bisexual men. The National Stewardship Action Council named him a Legislative Champion for his work to reduce plastic waste in California.
Before his election to the Senate, Senator Wiener served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, representing the district previously represented by Supervisor Harvey Milk. During his time on the Board of Supervisors, Senator Wiener authored a number of first-in-the-nation laws, including mandating fully paid parental leave for all working parents and requiring water recycling and solar power in new developments. He focused extensively on housing and public transportation, authoring laws to expedite approval of affordable housing, legalize new in-law units, and tie public transportation funding to population growth.
Before his election to the Board of Supervisors, Senator Wiener spent fifteen years practicing law- as a Deputy City Attorney in the San Francisco City Attorney's Office, in private practice at Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, and as a law clerk for Justice Alan Handler on the New Jersey Supreme Court. Senator Wiener co-chaired the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club, BALIF (the Bay Area's LGBTQ bar association), and the San Francisco LGBTQ Community Center, and served on the national board of directors of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBTQ civil rights organization.
Senator Wiener grew up in New Jersey, the son of a small business owner and a teacher, and attended public school. He received a bachelor's degree from Duke University and a law degree from Harvard Law School. He spent a year in Chile on a Fulbright Scholarship doing historical research. He has lived in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood since 1997. |