Democrat Barbara Lee announces bid to replace Dianne Feinstein in US Senate

Lee, a former chair of the congressional Black caucus, filed federal paperwork last week to enter the campaign shortly after the 89-year-old Feinstein announced she would step down after her term ends next year. Feinstein, the oldest member of Congress, has held the seat since 1992.

The three Democratic candidates occupy much of the same political terrain, so the race could be shaped by other factors that distinguish them.

Lee is the highest-ranking Black woman appointed to House Democratic leadership, serving as co-chair of the Policy and Steering Committee. Schiff and Porter are white. Lee, at 76, is the oldest of the group. Porter is 49, and Schiff is 62.

In a nod to her age, Lee said she was the same fighter she has always been.

None of the candidates has run statewide before. They face the challenge of becoming more widely known, though they each have established political reputations.

Lee has long been on outspoken defender of abortion rights. In 2021, she was one of several members of Congress who shared personal testimony about their own abortions during a congressional hearing.

She became pregnant at age 16 in the mid-1960s. Abortion in California was illegal at the time, so a family friend helped send her to a back-alley clinic in Mexico, she said at the time.