After two women being elected to represent California in the US Senate since 1992, Gov. Gavin Newsom chose Alex Padilla to replace Kamala Harris when she was elected vice president. Now, with Feinstein likely to retire, voters will have to decide how important gender is in who takes the seat.
“I think the voters are going to look at a variety of factors in deciding what’s most important to them at this moment,” Schiff said.
Congress member Barbara Lee is expected to join the race in the coming weeks. Lee is close to leaders in the civil rights movement and would need to mobilize voters of color, said Steve Phillips, founder of Democracy in Color.
“The majority of voters in California are people of color. And then, you know, 55% of the eligible voters and around half of the actual voters in 2020,” Phillips said. “And so it’s fine to have a national constituency. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to get voters in this state to back you. And so that’s the key reality here.”
Comments are closed.