A former California tech executive is ending her longshot campaign for the U.S. Senate seat once held by the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, she announced Tuesday.

Democrat Lexi Reese said in a statement that she has been unable to raise the many millions of dollars needed for a first-time candidate to introduce herself to voters across the nation’s most populous state. She called for term limits and campaign finance reform “so the cost to enter is not insurmountable for most people.”

“Career politicians have institutional, press, and party support that is very difficult to replicate as an outsider,” Reese said.

The former Google and Facebook executive joined the crowded contest in June, positioning herself as “a new candidate with a fresh message.” She was never able to break into the top tier of candidates that includes Democratic U.S. Reps. Katie Porter, Adam Schiff and Barbara Lee.

Federal records through the end of September showed Reese raised over $1.8 million for the race, including over $500,000 she and her husband contributed to the campaign. She ended the month with about $700,000 in the bank.

By comparison, Schiff closed his books in September with over $32 million on hand, and Porter had nearly $12 million to spend. It can cost $2 million or more to run a single week of TV ads in the Los Angeles market alone.

Reese lamented that elective offices are mostly in the hands of political careerists and former lawyers who are “consistently behind on major issues that are now existential threats,” including climate instability, gun violence, economic inequality and homelessness.

“I do not foresee better outcomes without more diverse and experienced folks tackling these issues from different angles,” Reese said.

In what appeared to be a lightly veiled dig at her former rivals, Reese also chided her own party to stop focusing on former President Donald Trump and so-called corporate “evil-doers” and said to recognize that most Americans don’t trust the government and feel the system is rigged against them.

She closed on an upbeat note, saying that “potential is everywhere” and change is possible with the right leaders.

The seat is expected to stay in Democratic hands — a Republican hasn’t won a Senate race in the strongly Democratic state since 1988. Republicans seeking the seat include former baseball MVP Steve Garvey and attorney Eric Early, an unsuccessful candidate for state attorney general in 2022 and 2018 and Congress in 2020.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Former Google executive ends longshot bid for Dianne Feinstein’s US Senate seat in California appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

As Washington, D.C. mourns the loss of longtime California senator Dianne Feinstein, it’s worth looking back at her legacy on the issue of immigration.

Feinstein, the longest-serving female senator in U.S. history, died earlier this month at the age of 90. During her more than three decades in the U.S. Senate, Feinstein was a leader on a variety of different issues, including immigration. The late senator was once a strong, articulate opponent of illegal immigration. In the 1990s, Feinstein advocated for strong border controls and assailed the government of Mexico for facilitating the flow of illegal aliens into the U.S.

In a 1993 statement, Feinstein eloquently laid out how illegal immigration strains resources intended to serve Americans.

During a 1994 appearance on Face the Nation with Federation for American Immigration Reform president Dan Stein, Feinstein also sounded the alarm about the growing number of children being born to illegal aliens.

It’s almost impossible to imagine a renowned liberal senator discussing illegal immigration in these terms today, but Feinstein’s longevity serves as a reminder of a time when border security was not a partisan dispute, but a bipartisan value. Rhetoric is important when it comes to dissuading illegal immigration, and illegal aliens would be less likely to flood our border if leaders on both sides of the aisle still talked like this today.

Feinstein’s effective rhetoric would at times also lead to effective policy. In 2006, Feinstein voted to construct 700 miles of additional border fencing. The following year, she authored legislation, which Congress passed into law, that prohibited funding or constructing tunnels or passageways to help illegal aliens enter the U.S.

Feinstein’s opposition to illegal immigration also made her a target for the far left. During her last re-election in 2018, Feinstein was accused by a progressive challenger of inflicting “horror” on aspiring migrants at the border.

It’s worth noting that Feinstein was nobody’s idea of an immigration hawk. She consistently advocated for high levels of legal immigration, and in her later years, she moved left with her party to advocate amnesty for many aliens here illegally. Still, in the prime of her political career, Feinstein was an effective advocate for upholding the rule of law at the border. Her old comments are reminiscent of those of former senator Harry Reid, the longtime Democratic Senate leader who passed away in 2021. In 1993, Reid famously gave a speech on the Senate floor opposing birthright citizenship for the children of illegal aliens, accurately opining that “no sane country” would allow it.

There have always been and will always be spirited debates over the appropriate amount of immigration the U.S. should allow, but both Feinstein’s and Reid’s legacies serve as a reminder of a time when lawlessness at the border was condemned across the board, a time before anti-borders interest groups took over one of America’s two major political parties and a sizable portion of the other.

Feinstein’s political career spanned more than half a century, going back to her election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1969. During that time period, she made her mark on every issue touching American life. As such, her legacy will be hotly debated, and mean different things to different people, but one aspect of her legacy that deserves to endure is her once fierce, principled opposition to illegal immigration.

Feinstein’s decades-old remarks opposing illegal immigration have stood the test of time, and are more relevant now than ever. May her memory be a blessing, and may her legacy inspire us all to restore the integrity of our borders, and support for the rule of law, as the default position in American politics.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Dianne Feinstein’s forgotten immigration legacy appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

With the passing of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California has lost its trailblazing senior senator and a giant in state and national politics. She was the rare pragmatic moderate in Congress, embodying the cordiality and cooperation from an earlier, more civil era in Washington. Politics will be poorer for her absence.

We didn’t always agree with Feinstein’s votes or priorities during her three decades in the Senate. But we’ve respected her approach to legislating and her deep commitment to public service. The remembrances pouring out Friday illustrate Feinstein’s values: integrity, hard work, courtesy and respect.

Feinstein’s long career had many firsts, including being California’s first female senator and the longest-serving woman in the Senate. At a time when politicians are judged for their sound bites, Feinstein, 90, was a lawmaker of substance. Deliberate and detail-minded, she was willing to spend the years it sometimes takes to pass complicated policies.

Feinstein was at the center of so many issues important to Californians. A champion for environmental preservation, she helped create Death Valley and Joshua Tree national parks, protecting millions of acres of desert habitat. As mayor of San Francisco, she led the city during the AIDS epidemic and remained a steadfast advocate over the years for LGBTQ rights and anti-discrimination laws. She championed the Violence Against Women Act, abortion rights and access to reproductive healthcare.

She wrote the 1994 ban on military-style assault weapons that drove down crime committed with them, until the law sunsetted in 2004. She continued trying to pass another ban after repeated mass shootings made the case for restrictions on high-power and high-capacity firearms. But by then, Capitol Hill had become captivated by the National Rifle Assn. and other gun-rights advocates, and Feinstein’s legislation couldn’t get traction.

Feinstein was an old-school stateswoman who was grounded in the reality of what was politically possible, which frustrated many California voters who have pushed for a more ambitious agenda on climate change and immigration reform, among other issues.

Increasingly, Feinstein seemed out of step with the political climate in California and in the Capitol. Amid declining health and questions about her mental acuity, there were calls for her to resign. Instead she said she would retire after the 2024 election. Feinstein died at her home in Washington, D.C., on the eve of a possible government shutdown driven by partisan showmanship and obstruction — the very things she worked against as a senator.

There will be much opining in the coming days on whom Gov. Gavin Newsom should appoint to fill Feinstein’s seat until her term ends. But for now, it’s appropriate to focus on the woman and the legacy she leaves behind.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various author’s articles on this Opinion piece or elsewhere online or in the newspaper where we have articles with the header “COLUMN/EDITORIAL & OPINION” do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints or official policies of the Publisher, Editor, Reporters or anybody else in the Staff of the Hemet and San Jacinto Chronicle Newspaper.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Editorial: Dianne Feinstein was a giant in Congress. She won’t easily be replaced appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.