Dem
51
GOP
49
The dam is breaking. On Tuesday, Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) announced she was running for the Senate in 2024. Yesterday, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) told fellow lawmakers in the Congressional Black Caucus that she is also running and would soon make an official announcement. Neither of these announcements are terribly respectful of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who isn't dead yet and who should at least be given the opportunity to exit gracefully.
Lee was widely seen as the most likely replacement for Feinstein if Feinstein resigned mid-term. But the reason Lee was the top pick as a replacement is also a key argument against her running for a full term in 2024: The Texas-born legislator will be 78 on Election Day. As a replacement senator, she would have merely been a placeholder to provide a level playing field for the real competitors in 2024. Given that, outside of the occasional Bill Frist, it takes at least 10 years to get enough seniority to have any power in the Senate, she is simply too old to start a Senate career now. Porter is 49 and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who is also expected to run, is 62. Another likely entrant is Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who is 46.
All these plans are going to put some pressure on Feinstein to make an announcement soon. However, the Senator is famous for resisting pressure and these early announcements may make her dig her heels in. The problem with that is if she waits until half a dozen other Democrats declare, announcing a retirement will very much make it look like she is giving up due to a fear of losing the primary. That's hardly an honorable way to go. She should have known that there was be a lot of interest from other Democrats and announced her decision already.
Meanwhile, the timing of Lee's announcement raises a chicken-and-egg question that is interesting, at least to politics junkies. As we noted yesterday, it was at least a little tacky for Porter to announce while significant portions of California are still flooded. But perhaps Porter knew that Lee's announcement was coming, and felt there was no choice but to move forward. On the other hand, maybe Porter's announcement gave cover for Lee to announce. In other words, was Porter reacting to what Lee was about to do, or was Lee reacting to what Porter just did? Alternatively, they might both have been moved to action by some other member, if they have inside info that Schiff, Khanna or someone else is about to jump in. We'll see if anyone else declares in the next week or so. (V)