Dianne Feinstein Loses California Democratic Party Endorsement To Upstart Progressive
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Sun, 07/15/2018
The wave of far-left and socialist candidates triumphing over long-serving establishment figures continued Saturday night as former California state senate leader Kevin de Leon defeated Sen. Dianne Feinstein for the endorsement of the state Democratic Party, according to the Los Angeles Times. By winning, De Leon joins Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a handful of other left-wing candidates, many of whom were endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, in a wave of victories that are pushing the Democrats further and further left ahead of the 2018 midterms.
Ocasio-Cortez, a Latina “girl from the Bronx” (who spent most of her childhood in wealthy Westchester County), defeated longtime Queens Rep. Joe Crowley during a Democratic primary last month. Crowley, the chairman of the Congressional Democratic Caucus, was reportedly a contender to succeed Nancy Pelosi in the party leadership.
Roughly 65% of the 330 state party executive board members voted for de Leon, a lawmaker from Los Angeles. Feinstein, who had pushed the party leaders meeting in Oakland this weekend not to endorse any candidate after realizing that the party was drifting toward her opponent, received a meager 7% of the vote, while 28% voted for “no endorsement.”
While the endorsement is certainly an important victory for de Leon, it’s unclear whether it will have a major impact on the general election, according to the LAT.
Feinstein destroyed De León in the June primary, winning every county and finishing in first place with 44% of the vote, a clear plurality. De León finished far behind, with just 12%. But that was enough to qualify him for a spot on the ballot in the November election under the state’s top-two primary system. And the party endorsement will allow de Leon to receive potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign money, as well as organizing assistance from the state party.
“We have presented Californians with the first real alternative to the worn-out Washington playbook in a quarter-century,” De León said in a statement shortly after the endorsement was announced.
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