Khanna endorses Barbara Lee for U.S. Senate
WASHINGTON — Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) announced Sunday that he will co-chair Rep. Barbara Lee’s campaign for U.S. Senate.
Khanna, who has been urged by allies of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to consider a run at the presidency, had spent months considering a potential bid to succeed retiring California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, signaling shortly after Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) launched her campaign in January that he would make a decision over the next few months.
Khanna called it “an honor†to hear from Sanders supporters and other progressives who wanted him to enter the race against Lee (D-Oakland), Porter and Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), but said, “I believe the most exciting place to advance bold and progressive policy right now is in the House.â€
So he passed on a Senate run and endorsed Lee, his progressive congressional colleague.
Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland, best known for opposing broad presidential war authority after 9/11, is running for the U.S. Senate in 2024.
“From the beginning, I have said that I would look closely at what Barbara Lee does and that her decision would weigh heavily on mine,†Khanna said in a statement. “She is a personal hero and one of the reasons why I first ran for Congress at age 27 on an anti-war platform. Her lone vote against the war in Afghanistan is one of the most courageous acts of modern time.â€
Last month, a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times found that just 4% of registered Democrats and nonpartisan voters in the survey backed Khanna for the U.S. Senate. Even if Khanna’s supporters back Lee, their combined support in that poll would climb to just 10%.
Khanna’s endorsement and role in Lee’s campaign could help her raise more money, though neither of them are the fundraising juggernauts that Schiff and Porter are.
In endorsing Lee, Khanna also said, “Representation matters,†noting that while Black women are the backbone of the Democratic Party, there isn’t a single Black woman in the Senate.
“For far too long, our country’s institutions have failed to reflect the people,†he said. “Building a multiracial, multicultural democracy is hard and we must be willing to fight for it. I look forward to fighting alongside Barbara Lee.â€
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
![[20060326 (LA/A20) -- STATING THE CASE: Marchers organized by unions, religious organizations and immigrants rights groups carry signs and chant in downtown L.A. "People are really upset that all the work they do, everything that they give to this nation, is ignored," said Angelica Salas of the Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights. -- PHOTOGRAPHER: Photographs by Gina Ferazzi The Los Angeles Times] *** [Ferazzi, Gina -- - 109170.ME.0325.rights.12.GMF- Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times - Thousands of protesters march to city hall in downtown Los Angeles Saturday, March 25, 2006. They are protesting against House-passed HR 4437, an anti-immigration bill that opponents say will criminalize millions of immigrant families and anyone who comes into contact with them.]](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/722dda1/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1983x1322+109+0/resize/840x560!/format/webp/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fzbk%2Fdamlat_images%2FLA%2FLA_PHOTO_ARCHIVE%2FSDOCS%2854%29%2Fkx3lslnc.JPG)
