Adam Schiff to run against Porter for Feinstein’s California Senate seat

Adam Schiff was everywhere during the year of Donald Trump. Whether investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential ties between Trump and Russia in the House Intelligence Committee, prosecuting the case to impeach Trump due to pressure on Ukraine to dig up dirt on Joe Biden, or questioning witnesses as part of the January 6 committee. , Schiff has been the face of anti-Trump Democrats everywhere for the last decade.

Now, fresh from the committee he once ran, he is in the Senate in California and answered the call of Rep. Katie Porter is running for Senate in one of the most liberal states in the country. His run will be a test of the power of anger that Trump has inspired for the past six years.

“When dangerous demagogues try to destroy our democracy, I will not let them,” Schiff said in a video launching the campaign on Twitter. “After all, I’d like to say that the MAGA extremist threat is over. It’s not.”

Schiff enters a field that could be even more crowded. Porter was the first California Democrat to announce her campaign earlier this month, sparking a contest that appeared to be on hold until now, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, making her thoughts on retirement. Feinstein, the longest-serving Democrat in the Senate today, will be 91 if she runs again in 2024 and is expected to retire; he hasn’t officially done so, however.

Another California member of Congress is still mulling the move: Northern California Rep. Barbara Lee reportedly told colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus that they are preparing to run, while fellow Bay Area Rep. Ro Khanna is still making up his mind.

A few of Porter’s early progressive endorser has hit back at Schiff for not moving forward enough and for before accepting PAC money from “Big Oil, Big Pharma, payday lenders, and Wall St banks.” Apart criticism of California progressives reveals one of the central tensions of Schiff’s nascent campaign: how to open a primary race that attracts attention when its biggest asset is a backward-looking appeal for anti-Trump, #Resistance-era nostalgia instead of a future-oriented agenda supported by a track record of congressional advocacy , like Porter, Khanna, and Lee.

The California Senate race will be a battle over ideology, representation, and memory

The Democrats who end up running will have to find ways to differentiate themselves, as they all occupy places on the left side of the Democratic Party.

Lee is an old-school, anti-establishment liberal with widespread name recognition in the Bay Area. Khanna has made more of a name for himself as a technocrat and champion in the fields of technology, antitrust, and economics, and is the chairman of Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign. Porter comes from Elizabeth Warren and from the party. But Schiff’s congressional identity has been shaped by his establishment ties.

A member of the New Democratic Coalition in the House, he is not as left-leaning as some of his rivals, but he is not centrist and has been in power and as a fairly standard liberal Democrat, often backing increases in defense spending, support for Israel, and freedom of the press abroad.

Schiff may not have to rely so much on those parts of his resume, especially with Trump’s third presidential bid underway. Porter’s internal polling shows that Schiff will be his biggest challenge, easily gaining ground in the general election (California’s open primary system moves the top two vote-getters in the June primary to the general election regardless of party).

This does not mean that Schiff will travel to the general if the field becomes crowded. To succeed, he must sign on with the state’s working-class Latino, Black, and Asian voters, and win over Northern California progressives and white college-educated voters who may have Porter’s support. Unlike Porter and other potential opponents, both of whom are of color, Schiff will not be able to appeal to personal identity or representation. A win for her would also be a loss for gender representation in the Senate, where nearly 70 percent of members are white.

The state’s racially and ideologically diverse population will make this race the most competitive race in 2024. Although Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly two to one in the state, progressive candidates are not guaranteed success, which Schiff could take advantage of if he can attract attention. many moderates are general voters. Despite being portrayed in the popular media as a state run amok with ultra-progressive, college-educated ideals, California is not among the states with the highest percentage of college-educated citizens.

That means finding a message that resonates with Democrats of various ideologies, education levels, and identities. Whether the message focused on defending democracy and standing up for Trump will hold up over time. At least one star of the Trump year has turned that message into political power: Dan Goldman, the lead attorney in the first impeachment trial led by Schiff, won in a crowded field of progressives and liberals in New York’s 10th Congressional District. Primary Democrat and current member of Congress.

But winning the electorate of 750,000 New Yorkers is one thing. Convincing a plurality of California’s 27 million eligible voters is another.