Replacing Feinstein

Our most recent book is titled Divided We Stand: The 2020 Elections and American Politics.  Among other things, it discusses state and congressional elections. 

 At AP, Michael Blood reports on the possibility that Governor Newsom might have to name a replacement for ailing Senator Dianne Feinstein:

When California Sen. Kamala Harris resigned to become vice president, Newsom faced pressure from both Black, Latino and other groups over a replacement pick. Some felt that he should replace Harris, the only Black woman in the U.S. Senate, with another Black woman. But others thought it was past time for California to have its first Latino senator, and Newsom chose then-Secretary of State Alex Padilla for the job.

But he later promised that if Feinstein’s seat became vacant, he would choose a Black woman to replace her. Should Feinstein step aside, he’ll be expected to make good on the promise.

“He made the commitment and I do not believe there is any wiggle room for the governor not to honor his commitment,” said Kerman Maddox, a Los Angeles-based Democratic strategist and fundraiser who is Black.

“Newsom must honor his promise to appoint a Black woman” if Feinstein resigns, said Democratic Assemblymember Lori Wilson, who heads the Legislative Black Caucus in Sacramento. “I trust him at his word. We currently have zero Black women in the Senate, so if the opportunity becomes available the governor must act to help remedy this lack of representation.”

Claremont McKenna College political scientist Jack Pitney pointed out that any presidential ambitions that Newsom might harbor would be damaged if he backed away from his promise to name a Black woman, noting that the candidate favored by Black voters has won the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination for every cycle since 1992.

“The last thing you want to do if you are thinking about running for president is alienating the nominating wing of the Democratic Party,” Pitney said.

THE SUPPORTING SURVEY DATA. 

Feinstein in Decline

 Our new book is titled Divided We Stand: The 2020 Elections and American Politics.  Among other things, it discusses state and congressional elections.   

Tal Kopan and Joe Garofoli at SF Chronicle:

When a California Democrat in Congress recently engaged in an extended conversation with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, they prepared for a rigorous policy discussion like those they’d had with her many times over the last 15 years.

Instead, the lawmaker said, they had to reintroduce themselves to Feinstein multiple times during an interaction that lasted several hours.

Rather than delve into policy, Feinstein, 88, repeated the same small-talk questions, like asking the lawmaker what mattered to voters in their district, the member of Congress said, with no apparent recognition the two had already had a similar conversation.

The episode was so unnerving that the lawmaker — who spoke to The Chronicle on condition they not be identified because of the sensitivity of the topic — began raising concerns with colleagues to see if some kind of intervention to persuade Feinstein to retire was possible. Feinstein’s term runs through the end of 2024. The conversation occurred several weeks before the death of her husband in February.

“I have worked with her for a long time and long enough to know what she was like just a few years ago: always in command, always in charge, on top of the details, basically couldn’t resist a conversation where she was driving some bill or some idea. All of that is gone,” the lawmaker said. “She was an intellectual and political force not that long ago, and that’s why my encounter with her was so jarring. Because there was just no trace of that.”

Four U.S. senators, including three Democrats, as well as three former Feinstein staffers and the California Democratic member of Congress told The Chronicle in recent interviews that her memory is rapidly deteriorating. They said it appears she can no longer fulfill her job duties without her staff doing much of the work required to represent the nearly 40 million people of California.

Larry Elder, the Oppo Gold Mine

Our new book is titled Divided We Stand: The 2020 Elections and American Politics.  Among other things, it discusses the impact of social issues.  It also discusses state elections. The biggest off-off-year election is the CA recall. 

 James Rainey at LAT:

Within 24 hours of Donald Trump riding down that golden escalator into the heart of America’s political consciousness, Larry Elder once recalled, he had the reality TV star pegged as the next president. He urged his radio audience: “We ought to get behind him.”

Two years into the Trump presidency, Elder sounded rhapsodic about the choice he and other Americans made. “The election of Donald Trump in 2016, in my opinion, was divine intervention,” he told an audience of conservatives gathered at a Rancho Palos Verdes resort in 2019. “It was a miracle. He is almost God-sent.”

Elder sounds decidedly more guarded about Trump these days, as the longtime Los Angeles radio host leads 45 other challengers in the race to replace Gavin Newsom, should Californians vote to recall the governor on Sept. 14.

Brie Stimson at Fox News:

Larry Elder, a gubernatorial candidate in California’s Gavin Newsom recall election, said he would replace U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, with a Republican – if Elder becomes governor and Feinstein were to step down during his term.

"God forbid Gov. Elder should replace Dianne Feinstein who nobody’s seen in weeks," Elder told Mark Levin on his radio show Friday. "I'm told she has a worse mental condition than even Joe Biden. They're afraid I'm would replace her with a Republican — which I most certainly would do and that would be an earthquake in Washington D.C."

 Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck at CNN:

Larry Elder, a radio talk show host and the top Republican candidate in California's recall election, disclosed in 2011 episodes of his radio show that he had twice been accused of sexual harassment and forcefully denied the allegations.

In one instance, Elder recounted that, while he worked in private practice as an attorney in the 1980s, his employee accused him of hitting on her. Elder then defended himself by implying the woman was too unattractive for him to sexually harass.

"This woman who tried to break the contract, not to compete and then accused me of hitting on her," Elder said in one episode. "That's how, that's how she put it. If you had seen her, you would know that the picture would be a complete defense. I'm just saying."

Elder later said the claim, made while he owned and operated a legal executive search firm in the 1980s, was false and said the woman backed down when he threatened to sue her for defamation.

The Money Never Was There for de Leon

In Defying the Odds, we discuss congressional elections as well as the presidential race.  Campaign finance is a big part of the story.

In California's top-two primary, State Senator Kevin deLeon (D) finished second to incumbent Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein.  But the money has not been there for him to make a serious run in the general election.

Kathleen Ronayne at AP: 

Neither had won the party endorsement ahead of the primary. But when the roughly 330-member executive board gathered in July, de Leon came out ahead. He has been more of a fixture at state party events than Feinstein over the years, building up a cache of goodwill, and members of the executive board tend to be the most progressive in the party.

The endorsement earned de Leon a spot on official party mailers and allowed him to open a joint political action committee that could accept bigger donations than his campaign.

But that committee brought in just $374,000, a fraction of what’s needed to buy television advertisements in California. In his campaign account, de Leon raised $1.6 million as of mid-October. Feinstein has raised nearly $9 million and lent herself millions more.

Other high-profile endorsements for de Leon didn’t come with much cash either.

Billionaire Tom Steyer, who has committed spending more than $120 million to elect Democrats this cycle, donated $5,400 to de Leon’s campaign and another $10,000 to the PAC, but he never ran any independent ads on his friend’s behalf. Two major unions, the California Labor Federation and Service Employees International Union California, also endorsed de Leon but did not do major spending on his behalf, although they campaigned for him through door-knocking and direct mail.

Instead, the groups spent big on U.S. House candidates and ballot measures.

Poll Data from California

In Defying the Odds, we discuss state and congressional elections as well as the presidential race. 

PPIC STATEWIDE SURVEY: CALIFORNIANS AND THEIR GOVERNMENT
Gas Tax Repeal, Rent Control Propositions Trailing
NEWSOM, FEINSTEIN HOLD ON TO DOUBLE-DIGIT LEADS

Newsom Still Has a Double-Digit Lead, But It’s Smaller

In the governor’s race, Democrat Gavin Newsom maintains a double-digit lead over Republican John Cox among likely voters, although the 24 point lead Newsom had in July (55% to 31%) has narrowed to 12 points today. Today, about half (51%) say they would vote for Newsom, while 39 percent would vote for Cox and 7 percent are undecided.

Most Democratic likely voters (86%) support Newsom and most Republicans support Cox (85%). Independents are divided (42% Newsom, 37% Cox, 15% undecided). Latino likely voters favor Newsom over Cox by 38 points, while white likely voters are divided. Likely voters in other racial/ethnic groups prefer Newsom by 16 points (sample sizes for Asian American and African American likely voters are too small for separate analysis). A majority of likely voters (59%) are satisfied with their choice of candidates in the governor’s race (32% not satisfied). Most likely voters say they are following news about the candidates very closely (21%) or fairly closely (41%).

Feinstein Ahead by 11 Points

Dianne Feinstein, who is seeking her fifth full term in the US Senate, leads fellow Democrat Kevin de León by 11 points (40% to 29%) among likely voters, with 8 percent undecided. The margin has also narrowed in this race: in July, Feinstein led by 22 points (46% to 24%). Today, about a quarter of likely voters (23%) volunteer that they would not vote for US senator. When this group is excluded, Feinstein leads de León 52 percent to 37 percent.

Across parties, Democratic likely voters favor Feinstein by a two-to-one margin (60% to 30%), while about half of Republicans (52%) and a quarter of independents (26%) say they would not vote for US senator. Feinstein leads among women (46% to 30%), while men are divided (34% Feinstein, 28% de León). She leads among white likely voters (40% to 25%) and those in other racial/ethnic groups (41% to 32%). Latino likely voters are divided (40% Feinstein, 38% de León). Feinstein leads among likely voters age 18–44 (41% to 33%) and among those 45 and older (40% to 27%). Most likely voters (55%) are satisfied with their choice of candidates in this race.

Baldassare summed up: “Lieutenant governor Gavin Newsom and incumbent US senator Dianne Feinstein lead their challengers by double digits although by smaller margins than in July.”

Most Favor Democratic Candidates in House Races

With control of Congress a much-discussed issue, half of California’s likely voters (52%) say this election is more important to them than past midterms. Democratic likely voters (64%) are much more likely than Republicans (48%) and independents (42%) to say this election is more important.

Asked about the election for the US House of Representatives, most California likely voters (54%) say they would vote for or lean toward the Democratic candidate, while 37 percent would vote for or lean toward the Republican. Most partisans support their own party’s candidate, while independents prefer the Democratic candidate by 11 points. Democratic candidates are favored by a 35 point margin (63% to 28%) in districts held by Democratic members of the House. Republicans are favored by a 21 point margin (55% to 34%) in Republican-held districts. In the 11 districts deemed competitive by the Cook Political Report, likely voters are closely divided, with 44 percent favoring the Republican candidate and 43 percent favoring Democrat. (The competitive distri

cts are 4, 7, 10, 16, 21, 25, 39, 45, 48, 49, and 50, as shown on this congressional map.) When likely voters are asked if they would prefer to elect a House candidate with experience in politics 

Thoughts on the California Primary

In Defying the Odds, we discuss state and congressional politics as well as the presidential race. 

Turnout

• We don't know what the turnout is.  The election night numbers were incomplete.  
• First, California has always been slow to tally the total number of voters.
• Second, there are probably an unusually large number of provisional ballots this year,  The the LA County Registrar accidentally dropped 100,000 people from the list, so those people had to cast provisional ballots if they showed up at the polls.
• Third, we just started using same-day registration.  Same-day registrants cast conditional ballots, which must be verified.
• Fourth, under a law that went into effect in 2015, mail ballots, a ballot counts if it is postmarked by election day and received by officials by Friday.   Literally no one knows how many ballots will arrive today and tomorrow.
• In short, we won't have a good handle on turnout until the weekend at least.

Moderation

• The top-two primary was supposed to serve as a moderating force in California politics.  But it does not always work that way.  In the crowded race against Rohrabacher, Harley Rouda pounded liberal themes: https://youtu.be/aRwzbqjNqaM.  He sought to stand out from the crowd by championing the party's rising progressive wing. (As of this writing, he is in a tight race for second place).

Senate Race

• Feinstein had a huge lead over Kevin deLeon.  She has a reputation as a practical dealmaker, and he is a liberal champion.  So why idid he fare so poorly?  
• First, she has a generally liberal record.  On one of the few issues where she's taken a more conservative position -- the death penalty -- she recently changed her mind. 
• Second, it is tough for state legislative leaders to get attention in California, given ever-diminishing media coverage of state news.  He was a big shot in Sacramento and his home district, but totally unknown elsewhere.  
• Third, an accused sexual harasser -- Tony Mendoza -- was his apartment-mate in Sacramento:  questions about "what did he know and when did he know it" dampened enthusiasm in the progressive community. (Mendoza failed to clear the top two in his bid to return to the Senate.)

Browns

• It really is the end of an era.  Between 1946 and 2014, there were 18 midterm elections.  A member of the Brown family was on the California statewide ballot in 15 of them.  (Pat Brown ran 6 times, Jerry Brown ran 7 times, and Kathleen Brown ran twice.) 

The GOP

• Democratic consultant Steve Maviglio accurately describes the GOP's plight:
• Things have gotten so bad that Republicans are popping champagne corks simply because they have a live body in the governors race. But GOP voters won’t have anyone to vote for in the U.S. Senate, LG or Insurance Commissioner (where they didn’t even field a candidate) races. The challengers in the AG, Treasurer and Controller races are unknown and underfunded. Sorry, folks, but John Cox is not going to the magnet that attracts Republicans to the polls.
• The GOP has practically disappeared in large swatches of the state.  In the suburban Assembly district where I live -- a place that once leaned Republican -- Democrat Laura Friedman is running unopposed for reelection.  In other places, the absence of a real party structure has enabled kooks and bigots to get on the ballot as Republicans. http://www.flashreport.org/blog/2018/05/26/latest-vile-anti-semite-to-run-for-congress-is-from-california/

Thoughts on Top Two

In Defying the Odds, we discuss state and congressional politics as well as the presidential race.

The following results in the California primary reflect totals as of 7 AM on Wednesday.

Governor

• Newsom 33.3%
• Cox 26.2%
• Villaraigosa 13.5%

Senator

• Feinstein 43.8%
• deLeon 11.3%

House Seats: Seven districts in California have Republican incumbents but voted for Clinton in 2016. Democrats are hoping to take these seats in 2018, but they worried that the top-two primary might result in all-Republican contests in some of them. But it appears that Democrats will be on the November ballot in all seven. In the 10th District (Denham), a Democrat is in second place by a small margin.

In most races, top-two produced the same result as a closed primary:  a Republican and a Democrat. Contrary to the hopes of supporters of the procedure, it usually did not lead to the nomination of more centrists.  Villaraigosa was to the right of Newsom, but he had little appeal to Republicans and moderate independents.

Clarification: 459 Leg and Cong races under top two since ‘12. Only CD 31 in ‘12 was two Reeps in a Dem seat. The fear is overblown. @markzbarabak https://t.co/7DYliXrHLG

— Garry South (@GarrySouth) June 5, 2018

Top-two did not generally change outcomes, but it did change tactics.

• Newsom wanted Cox to finish second, figuring that he would be easy to beat in November.  In TV ads and text messages targeting Republican voters, he “attacked” Cox’s ties to Trump, thereby trying to motivate Trump supporters to vote for him. 
• In the Rohrabacher district, Democrats successfully tried to prevent a shutout by attacking Republican Scott Baugh.  They also did robocalls supporting another Republican in hope of siphoning GOP votes from Baugh.
• Democrats tried to cull the herd:  they discouraged certain candidacies in hopes of consolidating support and avoiding shutowns.

Dubious Polling in California

In Defying the Odds, we discuss state and congressional elections as well as the presidential race. 

Paul Mitchell at Capitol Weekly:

To make a phone poll workable, pollsters are limiting the poll to those candidates they think are most viable.

And this can result in a flawed result, such as when SurveyUSA only included two Republican candidates out of 11 running, and found (incorrectly, mind you) that the leading candidate for the second spot in the U.S. Senate race was Patrick Little, a candidate who says he’s dedicating his life to exposing the Jews who are running this country.

Making matters worse, SurveyUSA claimed in their findings “for the first time, there is clarity on [Senator Dianne Feinstein’s] likely November opponent” without even making mention of the fact that they didn’t give Republicans the opportunity to select any of the other nine Republican candidates.

The increased use of online surveys using emails from the voter file can present a ballot that more closely resembles what a voter will actually receive, but not all public polls are using this methodology.

Aside from these known issues with public polls, there is a new one which has been creeping into the work of pollsters, particularly in this coming gubernatorial election cycle. This has to do with the makeup of the expected electorate – what pollsters call the “weighting” of the survey.

California Polls and Candidate Names

In Defying the Odds, we discuss state and congressional elections as well as the presidential race.

Conspiracy Theory or.... well, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Theory? (vote at end)

The surprise of the US Senate race poll by @BerkeleyIGS had unknown James Bradley coming up to challenge @kdeleon for the second spot. The order of the candidates in the poll was as follows.

Notice something? pic.twitter.com/8GjZWZLPoI

— CA120 (@CA_120) April 27, 2018

John Wildermuth and Joe Garofoli at The San Francisco Chronicle:

A new U.S. Senate poll that shows a Republican hopeful leaping into a near dead heat for second place may say more about the state of the GOP than it does about little-known and under-financed James P. Bradley.

While the poll by the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein on top with 28 percent support among likely voters, Bradley, a Laguna Niguel (Orange County) businessman, moved into third at 10 percent, just a tick behind Democratic state Sen. Kevin de León’s 11 percent.

“Why Bradley and not the other 10 Republicans running for Senate?” asked Mark DiCamillo, the poll’s director. “That’s the big question.”

There might be an easy answer.

Since the poll was conducted online, it could include the list of all 32 candidates for Senate, rather than the much smaller number of selected front-runners used in telephone polls.

The candidates were listed in alphabetical order, and Bradley was second on the list of 11 GOP contestants.

And the first Republican on that list? Arun K. Bhumitra, a teacher/engineer/businessman from Torrance (Los Angeles County).

Neither Bhumitra nor any GOP candidate other than Bradley received much more than 2 percent in the poll, suggesting that people looking to vote Republican just picked someone with a name they liked from high on the list.

In the CA primary, one possible reason why John Cox, Travis Allen, and James Bradley are getting GOP poll support: WASPy-sounding names. The questionnaire listed Arun K. Bhumitra before Bradley, but he got little traction. https://t.co/gP4vaebQnY @joegarofoli @jfwildermuth

— Jack Pitney (@jpitney) April 27, 2018

 Also note that two of the top five Republicans in the Senate poll are Hispanic and "John Jack Crew" sounds like a 1980s band.

More California Blues for the GOP

In Defying the Odds, we discuss congressional elections as well as the presidential race.

California's 50th CD should be an easy hold for the GOP.  It might not be.

Rachel Bade and John Bresnahan at Politico:

The criminal investigation into Rep. Duncan Hunter is intensifying as a grand jury in San Diego questions multiple former aides about whether the California Republican improperly diverted political funds for personal use.

Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed Hunter’s parents, as well as a female lobbyist with whom many people close to the congressman believe he had a romantic relationship, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the investigation.

The Justice Department is trying to determine whether hundreds of thousands of dollars from Hunter’s campaign account were spent improperly on his family and friends. Hunter already sold his home to pay back what even he now acknowledges were improper charges, moving his wife and kids in with his parents while he mostly lives in his Capitol Hill office.

It’s a stark reversal of fortune for Hunter, 41, whose friends once considered him a hero. The ex-Marine served three tours as an artillery officer in Afghanistan and Iraq, fighting in some of the bloodiest battles in Fallujah.

Now, the five-term lawmaker’s Republican colleagues worry that he’s on the brink of personal and political ruin. Some Republicans are urging GOP leaders to force him to retire, worried that his troubles could cost the party another seat in its uphill effort to maintain the House majority.

Ed Kilgore at New York:

A new PPIC poll indicates that Feinstein’s doing pretty well, leading de León by a robust 46 percent to 17 percent margin among likely voters, with significant leads among virtually every subgroup.

Of perhaps even greater significance, there were no Republican Senate candidates with sufficiently viable campaigns for PPIC to even include them in the poll. With less than a month left before the candidate filing deadline for the June 5 nonpartisan primary, that almost certainly means that for the second election year in a row, Republicans won’t have a candidate for the U.S. Senate in the November general election (under the top-two system, the top two finishers, regardless of party or percentage, advance to the general election).

And while California Republicans do have three candidates for governor this year, that could be two too many for the party to place someone in the general election. The new PPIC poll shows Democrats Gavin Newsom (the lieutenant governor and retiring Governor Jerry Brown’s heir apparent) and Antonio Villaraigosa (former mayor of Los Angeles) dominating a large field with 23 percent and 21 percent, respectively. The top-performing Republican, state legislator Travis Allen, is at 8 percent, and it’s not entirely clear his candidacy will survive recently disclosed allegations of sexual harassment in 2013. The other two Republicans in the race hold a combined 10 percent of the vote.

...
If, as appears likely, there are no Republicans at the top of the ballot for the Senate and gubernatorial races in November, it could have a baleful effect on GOP turnout. And that could be a real problem for Republicans trying to hold onto six endangered U.S. House seats.

Kevin de León Could Win

In Defying the Odds, we discuss congressional elections as well as the presidential race.

California Democratic state Senate president Kevin de León is reportedly planning to challenge incumbent Senator Dianne Feinstein.

He could win.

Although he is not yet a household name in California, he could mount a credible campaign.  He has strong ties to organized labor and the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, both of which have an outsized voice in party affairs. And as a top legislative leader, he is in a strong position to raise money.

Feinstein's situation recalls that of Senator Jacob Javits (R-NY) in 1980. Javits was a long-serving, well-respected member of the Senate minority. But as a liberal Republican, he was increasingly out of step with his party. He was also old and in ill health. Al D’Amato, then an obscure local official on Long Island, saw an opportunity. Few gave him much chance at the start, but Javits had never had a serious challenge from within the party, and was late to recognize how deep his troubles were. D’Amato attacked Javits’s liberalism, beat him in the primary and went on to win the general election. (Though he ran to the right in 1980, D’Amato ended up with a moderate voting record in the Senate. Full disclosure: I briefly worked in his office as a Congressional Fellow.) 

Like Javits, Feinstein has not had a serious intraparty challenge since winning her seat. In fact, she has not had a competitive race since Michael Huffington’s surprisingly strong showing in 1994. Like Javits in 1980, she is out of practice. Unlike Javits, she does not seem to have any major health problems. But she is the oldest US senator, and she is not as vigorous as she once was. And though her voting record is consistently liberal, her willingness to work with Republicans puts her at odds with the strongly progressive wing of the Democratic Party. 

Right now, the energy in the Democratic Party is all on the progressive side. At Democratic rallies, speakers do not get cheers when they brag about their bipartisan outreach. A scrappy, energetic progressive like de León could rouse the party base in a way that Feinstein could not. (Bernie Sanders showed the way on that score.)

One might argue that, even if Feinstein ran behind a progressive in the top-two primary, she would win in the general because Republicans would coalesce around her. But suppose there are Democrat-on-Democrat races for both governor and senator – as seems very possible. In that case, GOP turnout would plunge. And even if GOP voters did show up to the polls, many would skip the Senate race, as they did in 2016. In this scenario, a progressive Democrat could win the general as well as the primary.

One catch: progressive billionaire Tom Steyer is thinking about running.  If he got in the race, de León would have a harder time.  But in a head-to-head contest with Feinstein, we could see a replay of the 1980 Senate race in New York.

Feinstein's Religious Test

In Defying the Odds, we discuss cultural reasons for Trump's victory.  Trump got 60% of the non-Hispanic Catholic vote.  One reason is that Democrats seem bent on insulting their beliefs.

Michael McGough in LAT:

Is Sen. Dianne Feinstein an anti-Catholic bigot? Did she violate the spirit if not the letter of the Constitution’s ban on a “religious test” for public office when she worried this week that a Catholic nominee for a federal appeals court might be unduly influenced by her religious beliefs because, as she told the nominee, “the dogma lives loudly within you.”

Feinstein’s comments at a hearing Wednesday of the Senate Judiciary Committee were directed to Notre Dame law professor Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s nominee to the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals (and, as some noted, a mother of seven). The response on Twitter was immediate and righteously indignant.
...
I don’t think Feinstein is a bigot or a descendant of the 19th Century Know-Nothings who muttered about “rum, Romanism and rebellion.” But she went too far in raising doubts about whether Barrett would allow her religious views to affect her rulings as a judge (particularly about abortion rights, Feinstein’s priority when it comes to judicial nominations)...Barrett didn’t deserve such treatment, despite a claim by a liberal interest group, the Alliance for Justice, that “Barrett has said that judges should be free to put their personal views ahead of their judicial oath to faithfully follow the law.”

Nowhere in its screed against Barrett did the group substantiate this extraordinary accusation. It cited a 1998 article Barrett co-wrote as a law student that argued that a Catholic trial judge with religious objections to capital punishment should recuse herself from deciding whether to impose a death sentence. That, of course, is the opposite of suggesting that a judge should issue a ruling based on her religion.

The California Gerontocracy

California, the land of youth, has the nation's oldest senator and governor.

At The Washington Post, Aaron Blake reports:

A new poll from the University of Southern California shows that although Feinstein and Boxer have image ratings that are much more positive than negative (by double digits), about six in 10 Californians (59 percent) would prefer that they not seek reelection. Just three in 10 (29 percent) say they should run again.

Nearly half of Californians -- 48 percent -- say they "strongly" want new people to run. Even among Democrats, 44 percent say it's time for new blood, while 43 percent say the two senators should seek reelection.

...
At least part of the reason for the call for a changing of the guards is undoubtedly that Feinstein and Boxer are among the nation's oldest senators. Feinstein is the oldest senator, at 81, while Boxer, who is 73, ranks 16th.

Also note that the just-reelected Jerry Brown  (born April 7, 1938 (age 76)) is the oldest governor in the United States,* and both the oldest and longest-serving governor in California history.  What is more, a member of the Brown family was on the statewide ballot in 15 of the past 18 gubernatorial election years.

A few months ago, Alexander Burns noted at Politico:

The most prominent member of the congressional delegation, 74-year-old House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, started out as chairwoman of the California Democratic Party when Ronald Reagan was president. The current party chairman, 81-year-old John Burton, is a former congressman who first went to Washington in the 1974 post-Watergate revolution.

* Hawaii's Neil Abercrombie is also 76 but was born a few weeks later, on June 26, 1938.  In any case, he will no longer be governor next year, as he lost his primary.