Barbara Lee Enters U.S. Senate Race To Succeed Dianne Feinstein

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) officially entered the U.S. Senate race to succeed Dianne Feinstein, who is not seeking another term.

Lee joins a Democratic field that includes two colleagues, Adam Schiff and Katie Porter.

“I’ve never backed down from what’s right,” Lee said in her announcement. “And I never will. Californians deserve a strong, progressive leader who delivers real change.”

In her campaign video, Lee recalled growing up in segregation, of having an abortion “in a back alley when they all were illegal, and of becoming a homeless single mom. “They didn’t want to hear my voice or anyone who wasn’t like them, but by the grace of God, I didn’t let that stop me,” Lee said in the video.

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Lee, first elected to the House in 1998, was the subject of a 2021 documentary, Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power.

Her campaign video also highlights that she was the lone vote against authorizing the use of force in Afghanistan in 2001. She also noted that the Senate has no Black female members. If elected, she would be only the third in U.S. history. Lee also is the co-chair of the House Democratic Steering Committee and is the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Feinstein, 89, is retiring from the Senate as its oldest member and longest serving Democrat. She was first elected in 1992.