The radical left’s domination of the activist base of the Democratic Party became painfully obvious to Senator Dianne Feinstein last night, as the party handed its endorsement to Kevin De Leon, whom she faces as her opponent in November. Thanks to California’s “jungle primary” system, the two top vote-getters in the primary election appear on the November ballot, so no Republican option will exist for voters. It will be Feinstein, a 4-term incumbent with a huge war chest to spend, versus De Leon, who wants to abolish ICE and implement other aspects of the radical agenda.

It was activists who turned out in numbers that powered De Leon to his victory. Phil Willon writes in the Los Angeles Times:

De León, a former state Senate leader from Los Angeles, received 65% of the vote of about 330 members of the state party’s executive board — more than the 60% needed to secure the endorsement. Feinstein, who pleaded with party leaders meeting in Oakland this weekend not to endorse any candidate, received 7%, and 28% voted for “no endorsement.”

In the primary election, which drew a much larger sample, Feinstein handily defeated De Leon, with 44% of the vote to De Leon’s 12%. But thanks to a fragmented field, that 12% was enough for De Leon to grab second place and make it to the November general election.  Now, it will become a contest between the establishment party figure, who is 85 years old, meaning that she would be over 90 by the end of her term, if elected, and the radical base’s champion, who is 34 years her junior, at 51.  Incidentally, his actual birth and legal name is Kevin Alexander Leon, but in order to make it clear to low information voters that he is Hispanic, he adopted the name Kevin de León.

Kevin Alexander Leon, alias Kevin de León (photo credit Neon Tommy)

With her name recognition and ability to raise almost unlimited funds, including a substantial personal fortune, Feinstein is expected to easily win re-election. But, with the leftist wind in their sails, it would not surprise me if De Leon’s supporters engaged in savage attacks on Feinstein, probably driving her to the left.

My expectation is for an ugly race. The Dems are certain to retain California, but if the race generates national media attention, it may not help the prospects of Claire McCaskill, Heidi Heitkamp, or John Tester in their states.