Tweet
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...n-diego-423433
LOS ANGELES — California Democrats are united in their disdain for President Donald Trump. But that’s about all they can agree on.
Heading into the annual state Democratic Party convention in San Diego this weekend, the Democratic-controlled Legislature is mired in a contentious sexual harassment scandal. Cutthroat primaries have party officials on edge. And grass-roots activists are still seething, nearly two years after Hillary Clinton defeated Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primary.
Escalating the tension in the nation’s most populous state, the national party and a handful of other outside groups are beginning to muscle into crowded congressional races, hoping to head off a nightmare scenario in which the state’s unusual, top-two primary system results in no Democratic candidate at all appearing on November ballots in several key races.
“The gloves are coming off,” said Joshua Morrow, executive director of 314 Action, a political action committee that announced this week it will spend at least $1 million on television ads in the Los Angeles area ahead of the June primary, seeking to bolster three preferred Democrats running in crowded primaries.
The state convention — which is expected to draw several thousand activists and party officials — comes as California Democrats seek to highlight their dominance as a model for the party nationwide.
Democrats presently hold every statewide office and large majorities in both houses of the Legislature. Four potential presidential candidates are scheduled to address delegates over the weekend: U.S. Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, as well as Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer.
But infighting appears certain. In addition to a contested races for governor and attorney general, one of the most obvious flash points is the ongoing debate among state lawmakers over single-payer health care. State Senate leader Kevin de León’s bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is another likely point of conflict, with progressive groups courting delegates in an effort to block the state’s senior senator from receiving the party endorsement.
Like the fight over single-payer health care, the Senate primary is colored by the lingering bitterness surrounding the 2016 Sanders-Clinton primary.
“We’re a very big tent; that’s how it is, and [there is] a lot of excitement. Sure, there could be some negative stories coming out of there, but it also shows how excited people are, that this midterm election is as important as a presidential year,” said former Sen. Barbara Boxer.
“Politics,” she said, is “rough and tumble.”
Southern California is critical to Democratic efforts nationally to retake the House, so party endorsements in a number of races add another dose of volatility to the weekend.
In races for 14 GOP-held House seats around California, the number of Democrats lining up to take on Republican incumbents is record-breaking, leading party leaders to worry that the competition, and the elbow-throwing, could damage the unity and energy that has been fired up by the party faithful’s dislike of Trump.
Those fights will unfold against the backdrop of mounting fears that the state’s top-two primary — in which the top two vote-getters advance to the November general election regardless of party affiliation — could leave Democrats off the November ballot in several key House contests.
Rep. Adam Schiff acknowledged California Democrats need to become more focused.
“The jungle primary is a real concern … we saw before in the district that [Congressman] Pete Aguilar now represents that you can have a district that is even majority or plurality Democratic, and you get too many Democratic candidates — and you get two Republicans in the runoff. So that is a real concern,” he said.
LOS ANGELES — California Democrats are united in their disdain for President Donald Trump. But that’s about all they can agree on.
Heading into the annual state Democratic Party convention in San Diego this weekend, the Democratic-controlled Legislature is mired in a contentious sexual harassment scandal. Cutthroat primaries have party officials on edge. And grass-roots activists are still seething, nearly two years after Hillary Clinton defeated Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primary.
Escalating the tension in the nation’s most populous state, the national party and a handful of other outside groups are beginning to muscle into crowded congressional races, hoping to head off a nightmare scenario in which the state’s unusual, top-two primary system results in no Democratic candidate at all appearing on November ballots in several key races.
“The gloves are coming off,” said Joshua Morrow, executive director of 314 Action, a political action committee that announced this week it will spend at least $1 million on television ads in the Los Angeles area ahead of the June primary, seeking to bolster three preferred Democrats running in crowded primaries.
The state convention — which is expected to draw several thousand activists and party officials — comes as California Democrats seek to highlight their dominance as a model for the party nationwide.
Democrats presently hold every statewide office and large majorities in both houses of the Legislature. Four potential presidential candidates are scheduled to address delegates over the weekend: U.S. Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, as well as Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer.
But infighting appears certain. In addition to a contested races for governor and attorney general, one of the most obvious flash points is the ongoing debate among state lawmakers over single-payer health care. State Senate leader Kevin de León’s bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is another likely point of conflict, with progressive groups courting delegates in an effort to block the state’s senior senator from receiving the party endorsement.
Like the fight over single-payer health care, the Senate primary is colored by the lingering bitterness surrounding the 2016 Sanders-Clinton primary.
“We’re a very big tent; that’s how it is, and [there is] a lot of excitement. Sure, there could be some negative stories coming out of there, but it also shows how excited people are, that this midterm election is as important as a presidential year,” said former Sen. Barbara Boxer.
“Politics,” she said, is “rough and tumble.”
Southern California is critical to Democratic efforts nationally to retake the House, so party endorsements in a number of races add another dose of volatility to the weekend.
In races for 14 GOP-held House seats around California, the number of Democrats lining up to take on Republican incumbents is record-breaking, leading party leaders to worry that the competition, and the elbow-throwing, could damage the unity and energy that has been fired up by the party faithful’s dislike of Trump.
Those fights will unfold against the backdrop of mounting fears that the state’s top-two primary — in which the top two vote-getters advance to the November general election regardless of party affiliation — could leave Democrats off the November ballot in several key House contests.
Rep. Adam Schiff acknowledged California Democrats need to become more focused.
“The jungle primary is a real concern … we saw before in the district that [Congressman] Pete Aguilar now represents that you can have a district that is even majority or plurality Democratic, and you get too many Democratic candidates — and you get two Republicans in the runoff. So that is a real concern,” he said.
Comment