DIANNE FEINSTEIN has served California as a senator for 25 years. She has raised $13m for her 2018 re-election bid; her closest competitor, a state senator named Kevin de León, has rustled up $434,000. So it was humiliating for Ms Feinstein when the California Democratic Party failed to endorse her at its annual convention in San Diego.
Results announced on February 25th revealed that just 37% of delegates voted for Ms Feinstein; 54% chose Mr de León. Candidates need to win 60% of ballots to be awarded the party’s endorsement. Ms Feinstein’s inability to garner that support will make her the first incumbent senator in decades to run in the Golden State’s primary, on June 5th, without official party backing.
The outcome of the convention was not entirely shocking. Viewed as a staunch moderate, Ms Feinstein has never particularly appealed to Democratic activists of the sort who tend to serve as delegates. Much of Ms Feinstein’s ideology is progressive. She has fought zealously for gun control, successfully getting an...Continue reading
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