The fight over the Democratic Party's future collides with the race to succeed Nancy Pelosi

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement that she would not seek re-election capped off a decades-long tenure in Congress and the top echelons of the Democratic Party.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement that she would not seek re-election capped off a decades-long tenure in Congress and the top echelons of the Democratic Party.

Now, her departure also sets up a clearer picture of the race to be San Francisco’s next representative in the House — and of how Democrats want to chart the future of their party at a moment of generational change.

The two main contenders for Pelosi's district — Scott Wiener, a California state senator, and Saikat Chakrabarti, the former chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — had already jumped into the race ahead of Pelosi’s decision.

Others could jump into the California race ahead of next June's all-party primary, but already the two existing candidates' views reflect different wings of the Democratic Party.

In interviews with NBC News, Wiener said that he has a record of building diverse coalitions and delivering on legislation, while Chakrabarti touted his push for “whole scale, structural change.” The perspectives reflect the wider party debate about whether to seek political change more through practical advances within existing systems or rather by overhauling those longstanding systems entirely.