{"id":105321,"date":"2018-10-02T08:09:06","date_gmt":"2018-10-02T12:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=105321"},"modified":"2018-10-02T08:09:06","modified_gmt":"2018-10-02T12:09:06","slug":"california-democratic-party-declines-to-endorse-dianne-feinstein-for-re-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=105321","title":{"rendered":"California Democratic Party declines to endorse Dianne Feinstein for re-election"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_105322\" style=\"width: 660px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Screen-Shot-2018-10-02-at-8.07.04-AM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-105322\" class=\"wp-image-105322\" src=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Screen-Shot-2018-10-02-at-8.07.04-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"483\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Screen-Shot-2018-10-02-at-8.07.04-AM.png 718w, https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Screen-Shot-2018-10-02-at-8.07.04-AM-300x223.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-105322\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., speaks at the 2018 California Democrats State Convention Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018, in San Diego. (AP Photo\/Denis Poroy)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>SAN DIEGO \u2014 In a\u00a0surprising show of discontent with one of California\u2019s most enduring political leaders, the state Democratic Party declined to make an endorsement in this year\u2019s U.S. Senate race on Sunday, snubbing Sen. Dianne Feinstein in her bid for a fifth full term.<\/p>\n<p>Her main challenger, State Senate leader Kevin de Le\u00f3n, won the support of 54 percent of delegates at the state party convention here this weekend, short of the 60 percent needed to secure the party\u2019s endorsement. Feinstein received only 37 percent of the votes.<\/p>\n<p>The rebuke of Feinstein by the party delegates comes even though the 25-year incumbent has led polls by wide margins and received the backing of political luminaries like Sen. Kamala Harris and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5081217\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter size-article_inline\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyloaded\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mercurynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/california-democrats_15.jpg?w=620&amp;crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"U.S. Senate candidate, California State Senator Kevin de Le\u00f3n, D- Los Angeles, center, talks with a supporter at the 2018 California Democrats State Convention Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018, in San Diego. (AP Photo\/Denis Poroy)\" width=\"8051\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>U.S. Senate candidate, California State Senator Kevin de Le\u00f3n, D- Los Angeles, center, talks with a supporter at the 2018 California Democrats State Convention Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018, in San Diego. (AP Photo\/Denis Poroy)<\/p>\n<p>The results were a sign of unrest among many liberals who believe Feinstein should do more to challenge President Trump \u2014 and a testament to de Le\u00f3n\u2019s insurgent message resonating with the party\u2019s activist left flank. \u201cThe outcome of today\u2019s endorsement vote is an astounding rejection of politics as usual,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Most California voters say they don\u2019t know enough about de Le\u00f3n to have an opinion about him.\u00a0But he had a much more active presence than Feinstein at the convention, working the crowds and hustling between caucus meetings in white sneakers on Friday night.<\/p>\n<p>Feinstein\u2019s campaign still has a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/2018\/02\/01\/newsom-dominates-governors-race-fundraising-as-de-leon-trails-feinstein-in-senate-campaign\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">huge financial upper hand<\/a>\u00a0over de Le\u00f3n, as well as the built-in advantages of incumbency.\u00a0Her chief political strategist Bill Carrick played down the importance of the non-endorsement Sunday, arguing it would have little tangible benefit for de Le\u00f3n. \u201cThe reality is, he\u2019s way the hell behind,\u201d Carrick said.<\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-Cube_Article\" class=\"dfp-ad dfp-Cube_Article\" data-ad-unit=\"Cube_Article\" data-google-query-id=\"CJXO5fba590CFVDEwAodjyoHQw\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/8013\/mercurynews.com\/news\/california-news_4__container__\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/8013\/mercurynews.com\/news\/california-news_4\" title=\"3rd party ad content\" src=\"http:\/\/tpc.googlesyndication.com\/safeframe\/1-0-29\/html\/container.html\" name=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" sandbox=\"allow-forms allow-pointer-lock allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" data-is-safeframe=\"true\" data-load-complete=\"true\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The party also made no endorsement in the governor\u2019s race, the other big statewide contest this year, which has a more crowded field of Democrats. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom led with 39 percent of the delegates, compared to 30 percent for State Treasurer John Chiang, 20 percent for former state schools chief Delaine Eastin, and just 9 percent for former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.<\/p>\n<p>In a blow to party leaders\u2019 efforts to consolidate support in key congressional districts, no candidates secured enough votes to lock down the party endorsement in two open seats represented by retiring Republican Reps. Darrell Issa and Ed Royce.<\/p>\n<p>And delegates didn\u2019t settle on a candidate in the races for lieutenant governor and state attorney general either.<\/p>\n<p>Losing the party endorsement doesn\u2019t always mean much. When Feinstein ran for governor in 1990, she dramatically\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/articles.latimes.com\/1990-04-08\/news\/mn-1703_1_capital-punishment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">declared her support<\/a>\u00a0for capital punishment at the state convention, over loud boos from the hall. The party\u2019s delegates endorsed her more liberal rival, Attorney General John Van de Kamp. But Democratic voters as a whole agreed with Feinstein on the issue, and she won the primary that year.<\/p>\n<p>Feinstein also lost the party endorsement during her first run for Senate in 1992.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe people who are motivated to give up a weekend to show up at a party convention are further off the middle of the political spectrum,\u201d said Darry Sragow, a political analyst and Feinstein\u2019s 1990 campaign manager, who is not involved with this year\u2019s Senate race.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the results showed the party faithful\u2019s movement to the left. Both campaigns fought hard to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/2018\/02\/22\/feinstein-faces-competitive-vote-for-party-endorsement-at-democratic-convention-this-weekend\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">court delegates\u2019 support<\/a>, and the contest was a \u201ctest of the establishment\u2019s authority and power,\u201d de Le\u00f3n chief of staff Dan Reeves said before the vote.<\/p>\n<p>The endorsements were announced around 1:45 a.m. on Sunday after a prolonged vote-counting process, with delegates getting kicked out of the San Diego Convention Center as they waited for the results.<\/p>\n<p>In his speech to the convention hall on Saturday afternoon, de Le\u00f3n drew a series of contrasts with Feinstein without mentioning her name, saying he would have voted against the Iraq War and domestic wiretapping and he would never be \u201cfooled into believing Donald Trump can be a good president\u201d \u2014 a reference to a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/2017\/08\/29\/feinstein-san-francisco-booed-donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Feinstein comment<\/a>\u00a0that raised the ire of the left last year. He also highlighted his upbringing as the son of an immigrant housekeeper a few miles away from the convention center.<\/p>\n<p>Feinstein focused her address on gun control, calling an assault weapons ban \u201cmy mission\u201d and \u201cmy quest\u201d in the aftermath of the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Fla. this month. But she ran out of time for her speech, and was played off the stage by music. \u201cI guess my time is up,\u201d Feinstein said, and de Le\u00f3n supporters shouted back, \u201ctime\u2019s up!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A third candidate, lawyer Pat Harris, got the support of 5 percent of delegates, while 3 percent voted for no endorsement.<\/p>\n<p>Research suggests that the party endorsement is a bigger deal in lower-profile races than in statewide contests like the Senate race, where voters have more information about the candidates.\u00a0Thad Kousser, a political science professor at UC San Diego, studied the effect of the party endorsement in 2012 and found that it gave candidates in downballot campaigns about a 10 percent boost.<\/p>\n<p>In several other of the state\u2019s competitive Republican-held congressional races, candidates Hans Keirstead, Dave Min and Jessica Morse won the Democratic endorsements in their respective districts. Several of Min\u2019s opponents tried to convince delegates to undo his endorsement Sunday, arguing that he wasn\u2019t progressive enough, but they were unable to secure enough support to do so.<\/p>\n<p>The party also voted to oppose an endorsement for State Sen. Tony Mendoza, who\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/2018\/02\/22\/california-senator-could-face-expulsion-over-sexual-harassment-findings\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">resigned this week<\/a>\u00a0amid sexual misconduct allegations and attempts to expel him but is running for re-election. No endorsement was made in his Los Angeles-area district.<\/p>\n<p>Mendoza declined to speak at the nominating caucus, but he told reporters he was not deterred. \u201cIt\u2019s like every other election,\u201d he said, \u201cyou talk to the voters and you let them know what your message is about and what you\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>An investigation by independent lawyers hired by the Senate found that it was \u201cmore likely than not\u201d that Mendoza, who is married, had subjected six women to unwanted sexual advances.<\/p>\n<p>The party did endorse Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, who is on leave during a separate investigation into\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/2018\/02\/08\/california-assemblywoman-and-metoo-champion-accused-of-groping\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sexual harassment allegations against her<\/a>, including that she groped a male staffer. The endorsement was made at a local caucus before the allegations went public, and unlike in Mendoza\u2019s case, Democratic Party regulations gave delegates no option to undo it.<\/p>\n<p>Party chair Eric Bauman referred to Garcia\u2019s endorsement as an \u201celephant in the room,\u201d telling delegates he had met with lawyers and concluded there was no way to reverse it. \u201cThat\u2019s the kind of thing that our rules have not contemplated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/2018\/02\/25\/california-democratic-party-declines-to-endorse-dianne-feinstein-in-re-election-bid\/\">http:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/2018\/02\/25\/california-democratic-party-declines-to-endorse-dianne-feinstein-in-re-election-bid\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=105321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105321\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=105321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=105321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=105321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}