State senator Kevin de León appealed to party activists seeking a fresh face and a more progressive senator to fight Donald Trump

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The California Democratic party snubbed Senator Dianne Feinstein on Saturday, handing its official endorsement to state senator Kevin de León, Feinstein’s progressive long-shot challenger in November’s midterm elections.



In backing De León, a majority of the party’s 360-member executive board ignored Feinstein’s calls to stay neutral. Her allies warned an endorsement would create an intra-party squabble, between the left and the establishment, that could detract from down-ballot races.

De León has long been courting party activists and appealed to those seeking a fresh face and a more progressive senator to fight Donald Trump.

“Today’s vote is a clear-eyed rejection of politics as usual in Washington DC,” De León said after the vote. “We have presented Californians with the first real alternative to the worn-out Washington playbook in a quarter-century.”

A total of 217 delegates voted for De León while 22 cast ballots for Feinstein and 94 voted for no endorsement. Party members and activists are typically more liberal than the wider California electorate that has sent Feinstein, 85, to Washington five times.

The endorsement of De León means the state party will spend money promoting his candidacy. Still, Feinstein outpaces him in name recognition and cash and has a loyal following. She won the 5 June primary with 44% of the vote to de Leon’s 12%.

“We are confident that a large majority of California Democrats will vote to re-elect Senator Feinstein in November,” said Jeff Millman, her campaign manager.



California runs a top-two primary system that sends the two highest vote-getters to the general election regardless of party. De León took the No 2 spot by squeaking past a slew of unknown Republicans.

Six candidates for House seats considered top Democratic targets joined Feinstein’s call for neutrality in a letter to members.

“A divisive party endorsement for US Senate would hurt all down-ballot candidates and our ability to turn out Democrats we desperately need to vote in November,” it said.

De León led the state Senate until this year. He is the author of California’s sanctuary state law that was the target of a Trump administration lawsuit. A judge dismissed the case.

Feinstein was elected to the US Senate in 1992, when she became the first woman to serve the state in that chamber. She is the ranking member of the Senate judiciary committee, where she will take center stage during the forthcoming supreme court nomination fight.