Scott Shafer co-hosts Political Breakdown, a new weekly podcast and radio program on California politics. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts.

None of the Democratic candidates running for California's two highest-profile statewide races -- governor and U.S. Senate -- received an official endorsement from the California Democratic Party at its convention in San Diego this weekend.

Among the biggest losers was incumbent U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who finished far behind her Democratic challenger, state Sen. Kevin de León. The president pro tem of the state Senate received 54 percent of delegates' votes to just 37 percent for Feinstein. It takes 60 percent to get an endorsement.

But how much will that ultimately matter to Feinstein? Democratic campaign strategist Katie Merrill says de León as the challenger needed the endorsement much more than Feinstein.

"De León has such a narrow path to the Senate, and he had to have this Democratic Party endorsement," she said. "This was the one strategic thing he needed to accomplish here and he did not accomplish it. This was a loss for him."