By MICHAEL R. BLOOD | AP Political Writer
LOS ANGELES — Former tech executive Lexi Reese announced Thursday that she is entering California’s 2024 U.S. Senate contest, adding another Democrat to a growing field of candidates that already includes three members of Congress.
The Google and Facebook veteran enters the contest to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein as a virtual unknown in the nation’s most populous state, home to 22 million voters. In her first run for office she is hoping to distinguish herself as an outsider — “a new candidate with a fresh message,” her advisers say. That would contrast with established politicians already in the race: Democratic U.S. Reps. Katie Porter, Adam Schiff and Barbara Lee.
“The California dream is dying,” Reese says in an online video launching her campaign. “Millions of families are working hard but barely getting by. It is time to work together to build a better future together.”
Reese filed a statement of candidacy with federal election regulators on June 15, designated a committee to raise funds and indicated she intended to spend personal funds on the campaign.
It typically takes tens of millions of dollars to wage a successful statewide campaign in the vast state, which includes some of the nation’s most expensive media markets. It’s not clear how much Reese intends to spend from her personal funds on campaigning.
Schiff, for example, had $25 million in his campaign account at the end of March and is likely to have millions more after second-quarter fundraising concludes at the end of June.
With the centrist Feinstein in the twilight of her career, the race in the heavily Democratic state already is shaping up as a showcase for an ambitious, younger generation on the party’s left wing. The seat is expected to stay in Democratic hands — a Republican hasn’t won a Senate race in the state since 1988.
And as a first-time candidate, Reese enters the race without an…
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