Darren Helton
Darren Helton (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent California's 11th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the primary scheduled on June 2, 2026.[source]
Helton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Darren Helton was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. He earned a high school diploma from Golden Sierra High School and a bachelor's degree from the California State University in 2012. His career experience includes working as an engineer.[1]
2026 battleground election
Ballotpedia identified the June 2 top-two primary for California's 11th Congressional District as a battleground election. The summary below is from our coverage of this election, found here.
Nine Democrats and one Republican are running in the top-two primary for California's 11th Congressional District on June 2, 2026. As of March 2026, Saikat Chakrabarti (D), Connie Chan (D), and Scott Wiener (D) led in fundraising, endorsements, and local media attention.[2][3]
Incumbent Nancy Pelosi (D) is not running for re-election. Mission Local's Joe Eskenazi said: "Nobody still in the business has run a real San Francisco congressional race. Pelosi has held this seat since 1987. There hasn’t been a serious and competitive race for two generations."[4] As of March 2026, Pelosi had not endorsed any of the candidates.
Chakrabarti is a former software engineer and staff member for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D). Chakrabarti co-founded Justice Democrats after the 2016 presidential election.[5] In his Candidate Connection survey, Chakrabarti said he was running because "San Franciscans are being crushed by the cost of living and betrayed by leaders who are too comfortable in power to fight for us."[6] Eskenazi said, "Chakrabarti’s lane is narrow...[he is] in the unusual position of appealing to San Francisco voters who gravitate to national left-wing politics without yet having the backing of San Francisco voters who gravitate to San Francisco left-wing politics."[4] Former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D) endorsed Chakrabarti.[7]
Chan is a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Before her election in 2020, Chan worked in the city government, including as a staffer for then-District Attorney Kamala Harris.[8] Chan says she is running "for all the people who feel like they’re getting priced out of their own city. I’m running for those who are under attack by the Trump Administration."[9] Eskenazi said Chan's potential base of support includes "Asian/Chinese voters, the Westside and then an assortment of Great Highway refuseniks, disgruntled neighborhood dwellers and others who are chafing against what used to be referred to as 'Downtown.'"[4] Sen. Adam Schiff (D) endorsed Chan.[10]
Wiener is a member of the California Senate. Before his election to the Senate in 2016, Wiener served for five years on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.[11] Wiener says he is running "to defend San Francisco, our values, our people, and the Constitution of the United States with everything I have."[12] Eskenazi said Wiener "has a stronghold in District 8, the neighborhood that consistently has the highest voter turnout, and is also the only significant moderate or LGBTQ candidate in the race. It is hard to conceive of him not finishing first in the primary and nigh-impossible to conceive of him not finishing in the all-important top-two."[4] California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) endorsed Wiener.[13]
Also running in the primary are Cole Bettles (D), Omed Hamid (D), Darren Helton (D), Marie Hurabiell (D), Daniel Wheeler (D), Jingchao Xiong (D), and David Ganezer (R).
In a top-two primary, all candidates running for a given office appear on the same primary ballot. The top two finishers—regardless of party affiliation—advance to the general election. The Democratic Party of California endorsed Wiener.[14] As of March 2026, the Republican Party of California had not endorsed any candidate.[15]
As of March 2026, major election forecasters rated the general election Safe/Solid Democratic. In 2024, Pelosi defeated Bruce Lou (R) 81%–19%.
Elections
2026
See also: California's 11th Congressional District election, 2026
California's 11th Congressional District election, 2026 (June 2 top-two primary)
General election
The primary will occur on June 2, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 11
The following candidates are running in the primary for U.S. House California District 11 on June 2, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| Cole Bettles (D) | ||
 | Saikat Chakrabarti (D)  | |
 | Connie Chan (D) | |
 | Nathan Deer (No party preference) | |
| David Ganezer (R) | ||
 | Omed Hamid (D) | |
 | Darren Helton (D) | |
 | Marie Hurabiell (D) | |
| Daniel Wheeler (D) | ||
 | Scott Wiener (D) | |
 | Jingchao Xiong (D) | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Nancy Pelosi (D)
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
We provide results for polls that are included in polling aggregation from RealClearPolitics, when available. We will regularly check for polling aggregation for this race and add polls here once available. To notify us of polls available for this race, please email us.
Candidate spending
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole Bettles | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Saikat Chakrabarti | Democratic Party | $1,769,248 | $1,656,981 | $112,266 | As of December 31, 2025 |
| Connie Chan | Democratic Party | $174,385 | $54,854 | $119,531 | As of December 31, 2025 |
| Omed Hamid | Democratic Party | $34,968 | $0 | $34,968 | As of December 31, 2025 |
| Darren Helton | Democratic Party | $5,247 | $5,247 | $0 | As of December 31, 2025 |
| Marie Hurabiell | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Daniel Wheeler | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Scott Wiener | Democratic Party | $2,785,939 | $511,574 | $2,274,365 | As of December 31, 2025 |
| Jingchao Xiong | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| David Ganezer | Republican Party | $59 | $16 | $43 | As of December 31, 2025 |
| Nathan Deer | No party preference | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
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Satellite spending
- See also: Satellite spending
Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[16][17][18]
If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.
| By candidate | By election |
|---|---|
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Darren Helton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Helton's responses.
| Collapse all
My great-grandparents came from the East Coast to San Diego in the 1940s to build a better life. From them, I grew up believing in the American dream: work hard enough, and anyone could make it. Even as a foster kid learning to prospect and pan for gold, I held onto that belief: determination and grit could still strike it rich in our state.
At eight, I was taken from my mother. The system taught me that those making decisions about our lives often know exactly what harm they're causing, they just don't care enough to stop it.
San Francisco changed everything for me. Our city gave me the chance to build a career in tech, to transform my life, to prove that where you start doesn't define where you end up. Now I'm running because I need to give back to the city that shaped me.
Sadly, the opportunities that lifted me are vanishing. Families can't make rent. Workers can't afford healthcare. Children can't afford hope.
We don't need another politician. We need someone who understands that power breaks when regular people stop fighting each other and start fighting together.
San Francisco gave me a chance. Now I'm fighting to make sure others get theirs.- The system isn't broken, it's working exactly as designed. Every crisis we face was engineered: unaffordable housing keeps people desperate, medical debt keeps them compliant, student loans keep them trapped. I'm not running to fix the system. I'm running to expose it, break it, and build something that actually works for people who work.
- Climate chaos, water wars, and resource collapse aren't coming, they're here. The same people who decided I'd go to foster care knowing it would likely destroy me are about to decide who gets water and who doesn't. We need to build parallel systems now, before those who only care about protecting their own wealth make those choices for the rest of us.
- Our real enemy has a name and an address. We need to stop fighting our neighbors over scraps. The billionaire class gained a trillion dollars last year while we argued about pronouns and vaccines. I'll name names, expose the actual mechanisms of extraction, and show you exactly how we make power too expensive to maintain.
• Making work pay. Your boss's boss makes more daily than you make yearly. We need universal healthcare and real safety nets so workers can walk away from exploitation.
• Climate survival. The rich are building their bunkers and buying water rights. We need neighborhood solar, community water systems, local food networks – now.
My manager took it. Kept it for himself.
One shift, two lessons: The customer believed hard work was enough. The manager knew an easier way - why work when you can just take?
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on November 21, 2025
- ↑ San Francisco Examiner, "Word on the Street: A 'once-in-a-generation' race for SF voters," January 8, 2026
- ↑ Mission Local, "And then there were three: The race to succeed Nancy Pelosi takes shape," November 24, 2025
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedMLJan8 - ↑ Saikat Chakrabarti campaign website, "About me," accessed March 3, 2026
- ↑ Candidate Connection survey submitted to Ballotpedia on November 14, 2025.
- ↑ Saikat Chakrabarti campaign website, "Home page," accessed March 5, 2026
- ↑ Connie Chan campaign website, "Meet Connie," accessed March 3, 2026
- ↑ Connie Chan campaign website, "Home page," accessed March 3, 2026
- ↑ Instagram, "Connie Chan on March 4, 2026," accessed March 5, 2026
- ↑ Scott Wiener campaign website, "Meet Scott," accessed March 3, 2026
- ↑ Scott Wiener campaign website, "Home page," accessed March 3, 2026
- ↑ Scott Wiener campaign website, "Endorsements," accessed March 5, 2026
- ↑ Democratic Party of California, "2026 Primary Election Endorsements," February 22, 2026
- ↑ Republican Party of California, "2026 Endorsements," accessed March 3, 2026
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," December 12, 2021
