A Senate race pitting Adam Schiff, the man who spearheaded former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, against fundraising powerhouse and mad superstar Katie Porter would guarantee fireworks and a price tag of hundreds of millions of dollars.
But add in a candidate representing the Bernie Sanders wing of the party, Ro Khanna, and a living legend who got her to work with the Black Panthers and become the only black woman in the Senate, Barbara Lee – now you have talking about a California Senate race for all ages.
And the Democrats are just getting started.
“For years, a generation of leaders has lingered, leaving all these incredibly talented younger elected officials circling each other and waiting for the deadlock to be broken,” said Dan Newman, a veteran California Democratic strategist. “It is rare for a Senate seat to become vacant. And if so, that’s the equivalent of a lifetime job for a Democrat.”
California is finally getting a wide-open Democratic primary that lives up to its progressive reputation, with at least four liberals chasing the Senate seat long held by Dianne Feinstein — even though Feinstein, 86, hasn’t said yet if she plans to is to retire .
It won’t be cheap. Reaching voters isn’t easy in California, with a population of nearly 40 million and a land mass larger than that of many countries.
But after waiting for Democrats like Feinstein, former Senator Barbara Boxer and former Governor Jerry Brown to hand over the reins, candidates are poised to break the bank.
“This could very well break records in terms of the amount spent, not just in California, but probably a national record in terms of an intraparty fight,” said Mike Trujillo, a Democratic strategist and vice president of the political firm Bryson. Gillette in Los Angeles. . “If you’re selling ad time here in California, it’s going to be a really good time for you.”
Candidates have been advised that they must raise a minimum of $20 million to $40 million. Trujillo guessed that the winning candidate would end up spending more than $100 million — a huge sum for a contest that is unlikely to affect Senate scrutiny, as California will almost certainly send a Democrat to Washington.
But the race will affect the future of the Democratic Party, both in California and abroad. Voters will likely be asked to choose between candidates who, while largely agreeing on policies, represent different faces and approaches to Democratic politics.
Because they have so much in common, campaigns work hard to highlight contrasts in their candidates’ dossiers, political styles and personalities, although so far it has been done sub rosa or in veiled public critiques.
“If you want to show Californians that you’re a fighter, it means lashing out at one of your opponents to show you’re in the ring,” Trujillo said.
Porter was the first, announced two weeks ago and raised more than $1 million on its first day.
Porter, a protege of Elizabeth Warren – her daughter was named after Warren, the Massachusetts senator who was her law professor — just won a tough reelection for her Orange County house seat, a contest that has helped grow her national profile, based on viral videos of her explaining her policies or grilling witnesses at hearings.
Porter, a single mother and former law professor, has become a small-dollar fundraising powerhouse, amassing more campaign money last year than any other member of the House except R-Calif Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Schiff, meanwhile, announced his campaign Thursday in a video He highlighted his work investigating and impeaching Trump when he chaired the House Intelligence Committee. That work made him an anti-Trump hero, cable newscaster, and best-selling author, earning all the right enemies on the right for Democratic primary voters, though he’s not as associated with progressive policies as Porter.
The notoriety helped Schiff build his own massive fundraising apparatus, which raised only slightly less money than Porter last year, even though he had no competitive reelection, leaving them Nos. 1 and 2. House fundraisersapart from top party leaders, according to campaign finance tracking site Open Secrets.
Many analysts expect the race to come down to a head-to-head battle between Porter and Schiff, thanks to California’s unusual “jungle primary” system, which pits candidates from all parties against each other in primaries and the top two voters. moving on to the general election in November.
Not so fast, say supporters of Lee and Khanna.
They argue that California, the most diverse state in the contiguous U.S.—only 35% of Californians are non-Hispanic white—should elect a person of color, especially now that former Senator Kamala Harris has been elevated to vice president.
Senator Alex Padilla became the state’s first Latino senator when he was appointed to replace Harris.
“There’s a reason there isn’t a black woman in the Senate right now, because of barriers to fundraising and institutional connections,” said Lee supporter Aimee Allison, the Oakland-based founder of She the People, a national group advocating for choosing women of color.
Lee, who was a student with the Black Panthers in the 1970s, is an icon of the left for her decades of often lonely advocacy in Congress on abortion, civil rights for the war in Iraq, which supporters believe was justified by history. .
Lee, the highest-ranking black woman in the House, has privately told her colleagues she intends to run, though her easiest path to the Senate would be for Feinstein to retire early. Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom promised two years ago that he would hire a black woman to finish Feinstein’s term when she steps down, and Lee would be an obvious choice.
“An appointment would be a way to ensure that this country has the essential voice of a black woman,” Allison said. “This is such a great opportunity for Senator Feinstein to secure her legacy. And I don’t see and I don’t understand why it isn’t happening.”
Meanwhile, as Lee watches Feinstein, Bernieworld watches Lee.
Sanders, I-Vt., easily won California in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, beating President Joe Biden by 8 percentage points and Warren by 22 points.
Sanders has urged Khanna, the Silicon Valley congressman who has toured the country and made frequent media appearances as co-chair of the Sanders campaign, to join the Senate battle.
But Khanna admires Lee and wants to wait and see if she chooses to make a serious run before making his own decision, a source familiar with his mindset said. His core team is based in California and he wants to expand, but so far he hasn’t hired any new employees.
Khanna and Porter, meanwhile, share an unquestionable liberal bona fide, but they represent different forms of progressivism, like Sanders and Warren, whose ideological alliance was strained by personal and stylistic differences during their presidential campaigns.
Khanna and Porter also have different geographical bases; Porter is from Southern California, like Schiff, while Khanna represents the San Francisco Bay Area, like Lee.
Missing from the field with its plethora of Democrats, at least so far, are Republicans or even independents like Rick Caruso, the billionaire who $104 million running unsuccessfully for mayor of Los Angeles.
Mark DiCamillo, the director of the Berkeley IGS Poll at the University of California, said he’s never seen a race like this before, but he’s excited to see how the “blockbuster” plays out.
“I have been voting in California for over 40 years. What’s really unique is that we have this wide open race where anyone can throw their name in and no Republicans jumping in. None, so far,” he said. “That’s the dynamic of California right now. It’s a Democratic state, and most of the Republicans that top the list are just, I don’t know, sacrificial lambs.”