For a quarter century, Sen. Dianne Feinstein Dianne Emiel FeinsteinMcConnell says Trump nominee to replace Ginsburg will get Senate vote Top Democrats call for DOJ watchdog to probe Barr over possible 2020 election influence Intensifying natural disasters do little to move needle on climate efforts MORE (D) has built a career as an effective liberal legislator, the author of a federal assault weapons ban and a warrior for civil and gay rights who collaborated with Republicans on energy and health-care bills.

But to a generation of ambitious California Democrats intent on challenging President Trump at every turn, her record is no longer sufficiently liberal.

State Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de León (D) has already said he will run against her, and wealthy environmentalist Tom Steyer is considering his own bid.

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Feinstein’s challengers offer a hint at the first wave of a coming generational change in California politics, as members of the older generation — led by the 84-year-old Feinstein, 79-year-old Gov. Jerry Brown (D) and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, 77 — near the end of their careers.

The generation that will vie for the state’s top jobs is fashioning itself as decidedly more aggressive, if not notably more liberal. Those hoping to move up are appealing to a Democratic base that is as energized by the anti-Trump resistance as Tea Party voters were by opposition to President Obama.

“The last generation of Democratic leaders was liberal but practical,” said John Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College and a former spokesman for the Republican National Committee. “The next generation is under pressure to be more dogmatic. The Democratic left shuns any accommodation with Republicans.”

Nearly a decade ago, Tea Party voters fueled discord within the Republican ranks, both as establishment contenders faced conservative rivals and longtime incumbents were deemed insufficiently ideological.

Now, it’s the Democrats’ turn.

“It’s true that Democrats are more fired up than they used to be, but that’s almost completely Trump-related,” said Dan Newman, a San Francisco-based Democratic strategist.

Tellingly, de León, who spearheaded a legislative agenda in Sacramento virtually defined by resistance to the Trump administration, did not mention Feinstein in his campaign announcement.

The 50-year-old did mention Trump.

“We now stand at the front lines of a historic struggle for the very soul of America, against a president without one,” de León said. “Every day, his administration wages war on our people and our progress.”

The three stalwarts of the California Democratic Party are more measured in temperament. Feinstein suggested that Trump be given a chance to govern, comments that de León and Steyer have both criticized. Pelosi tried to cut a deal with Trump on “Dreamers,” young undocumented immigrants temporarily shielded from deportation, before facing protestors who shouted her down during a press conference back home.

And Brown, who has fashioned himself as something of a roaming ambassador on climate change in the face of an administration rolling back environmental regulations, is known more in Sacramento as a fiscally prudent check on the liberal legislature’s most ostentatious impulses.

Some Democrats long involved in state politics are taken aback by the ambition of the next generation, one they worry is promising the Democratic base the same kind of obstruction and dysfunction that Tea Party Republicans have wrought.

“There’s a difference between progressive ideology and pragmatic leadership and sometimes people seem to be getting these confused,” said Gale Kaufman, a longtime Democratic strategist in Sacramento.

Feinstein has been in office since 1992. Brown is nearing the end of his second two-term tenure as governor. Pelosi hinted that she had planned to retire had Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonJeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Momentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day Warning signs flash for Lindsey Graham in South Carolina MORE won the White House, though lately she has pushed back against calls for a new generation of Democratic leadership.

Behind them sit a host of ambitious Democrats. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Treasurer John Chiang are all running for governor. Current Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is said to be eyeing the governorship — or possibly the White House.

Xavier Becerra Xavier BecerraOVERNIGHT ENERGY: Trump casts doubt on climate change science during briefing on wildfires | Biden attacks Trump's climate record amid Western wildfires, lays out his plan | 20 states sue EPA over methane emissions standards rollback 20 states sue EPA over methane emissions standards rollback Investigation underway after bags of mail found dumped in Los Angeles-area parking lot MORE, a former congressman once mentioned as a possible Pelosi successor, took on a much larger profile when Brown appointed him as attorney general.

Reps. Eric Swalwell, Adam Schiff Adam Bennett SchiffTop Democrats call for DOJ watchdog to probe Barr over possible 2020 election influence Overnight Defense: Top admiral says 'no condition' where US should conduct nuclear test 'at this time' | Intelligence chief says Congress will get some in-person election security briefings Overnight Defense: House to vote on military justice bill spurred by Vanessa Guillén death | Biden courts veterans after Trump's military controversies MORE, Jared Huffman and John Garamendi John Raymond GaramendiWuhan is the final straw: The world needs to divest from China GOP seizes on 'defund the police' to galvanize base Peace Corps faces uncertain future with no volunteers in field MORE have all been mentioned as possible statewide Democratic candidates someday. Rep. Linda Sánchez, who suggested Pelosi step down, is the second-ranking woman in House Democratic leadership.

And a host of state legislators too numerous to name are eyeing seats in Congress or larger roles in Sacramento. Already, the race to replace de León as Senate president is well underway.

“Some of what you are really seeing is younger or less experienced political players who don’t want to wait for an open seat as an excuse. They are using our current horrible political environment as an excuse,” Kaufman said. “But it’s not real. It’s their sense of opportunity because of our current political season, and most importantly the threat of Trump, that is giving them the encouragement to think they have a chance to shake things up.”

The anti-Trump furor among California Democrats, coupled with term limits de León and others face, has pressured the next generation to begin making its move. They are responding to the constituency who will decide their fate by embracing the resistance.

“For the old generation, politics was a noble business,” Pitney said. “For the new generation, it is something like a religion.”