With Dianne Feinstein set to retire, the California Democrats are seeing a competitive primary for her Senate seat.
Adam Schiff — a representative known for chairing the Intelligence Committee during Donald Trump’s first impeachment — declared a run for Feinstein’s seat last month… but Schiff just got a new competitor.
Rep. Barbara Lee just announced her run for Senate, joining a crowded field including Schiff, Rep. Katie Porter, and potentially even Rep. Ro Khanna.
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“Today I am proud to announce my candidacy for U.S. Senate. I’ve never backed down from doing what’s right. And I never will,” Lee said in the video. “Californians deserve a strong, progressive leader who has delivered real change.”
Lee, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, filed federal paperwork last week to enter the campaign shortly after the 89-year-old Feinstein announced she would step down after her term ends next year. Feinstein, the oldest member of Congress, has held the seat since 1992.
Democrats are expected to dominate the contest in the liberal state. No Republican has served a statewide office in California since Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2011 departure from the governor’s mansion. In fact, no Republican even appeared on the November ballot for either of the last two Senate races.
The three Democratic candidates occupy much of the same political terrain, so the race could be shaped by other factors that distinguish them.
Lee’s district in the San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most liberal in the country and includes Berkeley and Oakland. Schiff’s district runs north from Los Angeles and includes Hollywood and Burbank, where he lives. Porter, despite self-identifying as a progressive, represents a politically divided district in Orange County, once a conservative stronghold.
At 76, Lee is also the oldest candidate for this seat. In a nod to her age, Lee said she was the same fighter she has always been.
“For those who say my time has passed, well, when does making change go out of style?” she said in the video. “I don’t quit. I don’t give up.”
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Lee has served in the House for 25 years, and she’s long engaged in far-left posturing praised by younger Democrats like New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
In a tweet, Ocasio-Cortez once called Lee “the one member who stood up” to former President George W. Bush.
Lee has alienated some Democrats with her election denial. In 2000, she objected to counting Florida’s electoral votes, after the state’s contentious recount. She also objected to counting Ohio’s electoral votes in the following election.
In 2016, Lee objected to counting the electoral votes for not only Michigan but also the conservative stronghold West Virginia. Her objections were dismissed by then-Vice President Joe Biden, who was presiding over the Senate.
Despite her fringe activism, Lee has occupied positions of power within the House. She has chaired the Congressional Black Caucus, and she serves on the House Democrats’ steering and policy committee.
Now she just might give Schiff a run for his money.
Today I am proud to announce my candidacy for U.S. Senate. I’ve never backed down from doing what’s right. And I never will. Californians deserve a strong, progressive leader who has delivered real change.#BarbaraLeeSpeaksForMe pic.twitter.com/sEjmABg2BS
— Barbara Lee (@BarbaraLeeForCA) February 21, 2023
I remember a time when it was “unacceptable” to question the Iraq War.
All of Congress was wrong, including both GOP & Dem Party, and led my generation into a disastrous + wrong war that virtually all would come to regret, except for the one member who stood up: Barbara Lee.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 5, 2019
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article.