The three major candidates in the race to replace Dianne Feinstein in the U.S. Senate continue to jockey for position. After a late start, East Bay Congresswoman Barbara Lee seems to be gaining traction in her race against two better-known Congressional colleagues. There’s been so much focus on Feinstein herself, as she continues to recover from shingles and is absent from Washington. Amid growing calls for her to step down, Feinstein insists she will finish out her term, but Democrats are frustrated that without her vote on the Judiciary Committee, they can’t confirm many of President Biden’s judicial appointees in the narrowly divided Senate.

While that debate rages on, three members of the California Democratic Congressional delegation are scrapping for donations and endorsements, setting up their campaign infrastructure and preparing for what will be a very hotly contested Senate primary, 10 months from this week. Representative Katie Porter of Orange County was first to declare, she raised millions of dollars very quickly and brandished the endorsement of Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. Congressman Adam Schiff of Los Angeles was next, he raised even more than Porter did and he’s collecting an impressive portfolio of mainstream Democratic
endorsements, including Nancy Pelosi’s backing. But now here comes Oakland’s Barbara Lee, and she’s quickly positioning herself as the favored candidate of progressives.