Days after the California Democratic Party decided not to endorse Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the senior senator from the Golden State seems barely to have noticed the insult.
It’s hard to take offense when you’ve won statewide five times, and maintain a double-digit lead in the polls for a sixth. The party’s snub may be a sign of future tides in California, but, as many in the state concede, it’s not enough to knock Feinstein out in 2018.
“It’s a 30-point difference between us in the polls,” Feinstein said Tuesday. “So I don’t know what you want me to say. It is what it is.”
Leading the charge against Feinstein is Kevin de León, the California state senate president pro tempore, who is fueled by progressive energy that helped propel Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in 2016. De León nearly reached the 60 percent needed to earn the state party’s endorsement on Sunday.
Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., who supports Feinstein, speculated she simply wanted to prevent de León from securing the endorsement. The divide among California Democrats, Peters said, is a microcosm of the Democratic split nationally.
“It’s just where the party is right now,” Peters said. “It’s enthusiastic, which is really good, but it’s also had a lot of Bernie influence.”
The race remains in Feinstein’s hands, with allies of de León admitting that his bid is still a long-shot. With more than three months until the June 5 primary, Feinstein has nearly $10 million in the bank compared to de León’s $359,000, who has yet to reach a fever pitch with progressives in terms of fundraising.
“It has an impact as it gives a boost to Kevin’s campaign. But candidly, Feinstein’s still the front-runner,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who support’s de León’s campaign, said of the party not endorsing Feinstein. “She’s got huge name-ID. She’s got a huge war chest, and in California if you’re not on television at the end without name-ID, it’s a hard state [to win]. Retail politics is not sufficient.”
“She’s the front-runner, but it’s quite remarkable to be a sitting incumbent and lose one of those endorsements,” he added.
Feinstein leads by nearly 30 points in most polls. And her institutional support will be difficult to topple.
Two of the state’s top political figures — Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., a rising star in the party, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. — have endorsed her bid for a fifth full term. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is squarely behind her.
Though Feinstein suffered a stunning rebuke at the hands of California Democrats, skepticism still surrounds de León and his ability to pull off the improbable against Feinstein, a 26-year veteran of the Senate.
“It doesn’t change the race at all in terms, are real people going to find out about this? Maybe a little bit, but it’s a one day story,” said Andrew Acosta, a Sacramento-based Democratic strategist. “He’s not going to be able to go up on statewide TV attacking Dianne Feinstein on issues today … and de León still doesn’t have any money.”
California’s primary structure doesn’t help de León either. In the state’s “jungle” primary the top two vote-getters will move on to the November general election regardless of party affiliation.
“For a congressional race a party endorsement is super important,” said one Democratic strategist. “For Sen. Feinstein, she’s always had a so-so relationship with the activist base that turns up at conventions.”
The top-two primary system, the strategist added, “probably ensures she gets re-elected” because if she faces de León in the general, Feinstein will attract independents and Republicans.
When the California Democratic Party didn’t endorse Feinstein at the weekend convention, talk turned to what would happen if she is re-elected but doesn’t finish her term. Feinstein, 84, is the oldest member of the Senate. “There was a lot of speculation about what ‘Game of Thrones’ style drama would happen,” said the strategist, who attended the convention.
Eric Schickler, chair of University of California, Berkeley’s political science department, said he expects Feinstein will survive the challenge, but cautioned that she shouldn’t take her lead for granted. If there is going to be a leftward drag of the party in 2018 or soon thereafter, Schickler said, it makes sense that California would be the first to do it.
“Feinstein is ahead but it is a warning sign and another signal that the activist base in the party is interested in a candidate that is more liberal, more on the left,” Schickler said. “The endorsement itself is less important than the sign that more delegates wanted to vote for de León than her.”
