LOS ANGELES -- Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ’s decision to step aside after nearly four decades in Congress kicks off a wide-open contest to replace her at a time when her home city of San Francisco is roiled in debate about the cost of living and what its future should look like. Pelosi announced Thursday that she will not seek reelection next year, bookending a career that saw her become the first woman in the speaker’s chair and one of the most powerful Democrats of her era in Washington. The race to replace her is unfolding at a time when her deeply Democratic and famously liberal district — which encompasses virtually all of San Francisco — is contending with soaring housing costs and conflict over whether denser development is the answer to them. Republicans account for a mere 7

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