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When Kevin de León, the son of an undocumented Guatemalan immigrant and a teacher union organizer-turned-Calif. state Senate leader, stepped up to challenge Dianne Feinstein in 2018, the entire Dem Party establishment, including Obama, rushed in to make sure he posed no threat.
De León was 51 at the time and Feinstein was 85.
He ran an ad blasting Feinstein's hardline immigration comments in the 1990s: “I say return them to their own country, wherever that country may be,” she said of undocumented immigrants. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kevin-de-leon-dianne-feinstein-first-ad-california-senate_n_5ba095dbe4b013b0977e6287?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004
He ran an ad blasting Feinstein's hardline immigration comments in the 1990s: “I say return them to their own country, wherever that country may be,” she said of undocumented immigrants. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kevin-de-leon-dianne-feinstein-first-ad-california-senate_n_5ba095dbe4b013b0977e6287?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004
I am not saying that de León was perfect or even the right candidate for a progressive challenge.
But it's a telling example of how the Democratic establishment wields power -- harshly against challengers of all stripes and cautiously, if at all, against big business, the GOP.
But it's a telling example of how the Democratic establishment wields power -- harshly against challengers of all stripes and cautiously, if at all, against big business, the GOP.
This is in a state with a nonpartisan top-two system. Feinstein and de León were the top two vote getters in the primary and thus the only names on the November ballot. In other words, there was no danger of Democrats losing Feinstein's seat to a Republican.
These tactics deserve new scrutiny if Biden and Harris win, freeing up Harris' Senate seat ...
... On the rare occasions when a sitting senator retires, California's governor is allowed to appoint someone to serve there until the expiration of the term, guaranteeing the appointee will face voters for the first time as an incumbent with all the advantages that provides.
As a result, voters can go decades -- theoretically into eternity -- without getting the chance to vote in an open Senate race where newcomers have a better shot.
It's why @LATimesSkelton is calling for a special election in lieu of an appointment: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-08-10/skelton-senate-appointments-legislation-kamala-harris-gavin-newsom
It's why @LATimesSkelton is calling for a special election in lieu of an appointment: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-08-10/skelton-senate-appointments-legislation-kamala-harris-gavin-newsom
Thus far Gov. Newsom has not expressed interest in calling a special election and discussion has instead centered on who he'll pick: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/us/california-senate-kamala-harris.html
The good news for insurgents -- who are at the moment, clustered on the ideological left -- is that it's possible to beat the odds, just as @chesaboudin did against Suzy Loftus, whom SF Mayor London Breed had appointed to fill the vacant SF DA post: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/district-attorney-san-francisco-race_n_5d700eb0e4b09bbc9ef93f5d
The phenomenon of Democratic Party bosses trying to stack the deck is not limited to California.
In Georgia, a state party committee picked *the sitting state party chairwoman* to fill Rep. John Lewis' seat, rather than a placeholder: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/georgia-democrats-name-finalists-john-lewis-seat_n_5f15bb95c5b6d14c336a959a
In Georgia, a state party committee picked *the sitting state party chairwoman* to fill Rep. John Lewis' seat, rather than a placeholder: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/georgia-democrats-name-finalists-john-lewis-seat_n_5f15bb95c5b6d14c336a959a
