California Democrats Decline To Endorse Another Term For Sen. Dianne Feinstein

A version of this story was originally posted by member station KQED.

Before U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein could finish her speech at the California Democratic Party convention Saturday, the music began playing to indicate she had used her allotted time.

She kept talking. The music got louder. "I guess my time is up," Feinstein conceded as what sounded like a 1940s movie score continued playing.

Without missing a beat, supporters of her opponent, state Sen. Kevin de León echoed her statement in a chant: "Your time is up! Your time is up!" — a not-so-subtle reference to Feinstein's 25 years in the U.S. Senate.

It was a sign of things to come. The grass-roots Democratic activists gathered at the party's annual convention in San Diego this weekend implicitly rebuked the state's senior U.S. senator by denying her the party's endorsement for her re-election bid.

Feinstein finished far behind de León, the top Democrat in the state Senate. De León received 54 percent of delegates' votes to just 37 percent for Feinstein. It takes 60 percent to receive an endorsement.

While the lack of an endorsement certainly won't keep Feinstein off the ballot, it's a sign that grass-roots Democrats are eager to supplant leaders who are seen as too moderate and willing to compromise.

Democratic Party activists have never really been Feinstein's people. In 1990, when she was running for governor, she came to the party convention and expressed her support for the death penalty, eliciting boos from the liberal crowd. She lost the party endorsement to John Van de Kamp but got the nomination anyway, ultimately losing the November election to Pete Wilson. - More, NPR

California Democrats Decline To Endorse Another Term For Sen ...

California Democrats decline to endorse Feinstein - POLITICO