San Francisco's congressional race is getting spicy — and not just because of the debate stage fireworks.

On one front, candidate Saikat Chakrabarti — yes, the former chief of staff to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — has deployed an impressive ground game of Chinese-language canvassers hitting neighborhoods across the city. It's a smart tactical move in a district where the Chinese-American community is a significant and growing political force. Whether you agree with Chakrabarti's politics or not (and we have questions), you have to respect the hustle of actually going door-to-door and speaking to voters in their own language.

Meanwhile, the candidates squared off in a congressional debate that quickly turned into an attack-fest. Gloves came off, barbs were traded, and the usual SF political theater was on full display. The combative tone tells you something important: everyone knows this seat matters, and nobody's coasting.

Here's the thing, though. San Francisco voters should be asking harder questions than the ones being lobbed on debate stages. What's your actual plan to rein in federal spending? How do you plan to address the city's economic competitiveness as tech companies continue their exodus? What's your position on the regulatory burden crushing small businesses?

Instead, we're likely to get the usual San Francisco congressional playbook: promise more federal dollars, more programs, more bureaucracy — and kick the fiscal can further down the road.

Chakrabarti's multilingual canvassing operation shows a candidate who's serious about winning. But winning and governing responsibly are two very different things. SF has sent representatives to Washington for decades who've been great at securing headlines and terrible at demanding fiscal accountability.

Whoever emerges from this crowded field, San Franciscans deserve a representative who fights for the city's economic future — not just one who's good at working a room or a doorstep.

We'll be watching.