The California Democratic Party is moving to the left of Dianne Feinstein, who only got 37% of her party’s support as 54% of them voted to endorse her leftist rival in this weekend’s annual convention:
WAPO – California Democrats rebuked Sen. Dianne Feinstein at their annual convention this weekend, denying her the party’s endorsement in this year’s Senate race and giving a majority of their votes to her liberal primary challenger.
Just 37 percent of delegates to the statewide convention, held this year in San Diego, backed Feinstein in her bid for a fifth full term. More than 54 percent backed state Senate leader Kevin de León, who entered the race in October and has run to Feinstein’s left on health care, taxes and immigration. Candidates needed 60 percent of the vote to win the party’s endorsement, making Feinstein the first incumbent senator in recent memory who will run in June’s primary without official backing.
Losing at the party’s convention does not stop any candidate from fighting to win in the primary. In 1990, as a candidate for governor of California, Feinstein was denied the party’s endorsement at the convention, in part due to her support for the death penalty. She went on to win the nomination, losing in November to Republican Pete Wilson.
Until Sunday morning, de León had little evidence that his challenge to Feinstein could succeed. The senator entered the year with more than $9.8 million in campaign funds; de León had just $359,261. A February poll from the Public Policy Institute of California found her leading de León by 29 points, albeit with 37 percent of voters undecided. And Feinstein, who since the start of her political career in San Francisco had crossed swords with her party’s left, had voted with the left of her Democratic caucus on issues involving the status of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.
While de Leon won the vote, he didn’t get enough votes to actually secure the endorsement himself, falling 6% short:
NY TIMES – A candidate must garner the support of 60 percent of the delegates to win the party’s nomination. None of the candidates running for statewide election met that threshold.
The Times continues to point out why Feinstein might have lost so badly:
The vote came after Mr. de León, who has been running an insurgent campaign, delivered a blistering speech that reflects deep divisions among Democrats here — and across the nation — about how to respond to President Trump. Mr. de León questioned, among other things, remarks Ms. Feinstein had made that were interpreted by many Democratic activists here as sympathetic to Mr. Trump, and suggested she was too conventional in taking on the White House.
“The days of Democrats biding our time, biting our tongue, and triangulating at the margins are over,” he said.
His speech also reflected a feeling among many Democrats, particularly younger ones, that it is time for the old guard of Democratic leaders here to step aside. Gov. Jerry Brown, 79, is stepping down at the end of the year because of term limits.
“California’s greatness comes from acts of human audacity, not congressional seniority,” Mr. de León said.
So in other words, they don’t like her now because she’s not hateful enough towards Trump. Got it.
I know that California is the bleeding edge of fanatical leftism in America, but the fact that Dianne Feinstein is not leftist enough for her party any longer should tell you just how ugly Senate and Congressional races are going to be this year.