The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, and Carolyn Fiddler, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.
Leading Off
●CA-Sen: Though Dianne Feinstein announced her plans to seek a fifth full term in the Senate earlier this week, a number of prominent California Democrats who are dissatisfied with her service are still weighing their responses—and perhaps considering challenges of their own. Bay Area Rep. Eric Swalwell, who came to Congress in 2012 by defeating another longtime incumbent, offered the standard dodge when a reporter asked him if he was thinking about seeking a promotion, saying he's focused on his current job. Interestingly, Swalwell is a member of Nancy Pelosi's leadership team, so to take on Feinstein would mean going after a fundament of the same Democratic establishment that Swalwell is now part of.
Meanwhile, wealthy tech entrepreneur Joseph Sanberg, who'd been mentioned before as a possible candidate, also made some revealing comments. Following Feinstein's announcement, Sanberg posted on Twitter, "Here at home, Californians are leading the resistance to bullies like Trump. But we need representatives willing to do the same in D.C." That's an unsubtle reference to some inexplicable remarks Feinstein made over the summer, in which she counseled "patience" with Trump because she somehow believes "he can be a good president." Needless to say, those statements fried a lot of hides and are probably a key reason Feinstein is facing such discontent.
Another rich guy who's a lot more famous in politics, billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, is playing less coy. Steyer, who didn't rule out a Senate bid last month, acknowledged that he's still "looking at all options" and will make his plans public "very soon." Steyer had spent most of the year with his eye on 2018's open gubernatorial race, so it'll be interesting to see which route he thinks offers him the best chance at victory. Steyer also has left the door open to a 2020 presidential run, so it’s hard to know what he’s really focusing on.