Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) on Wednesday announced his endorsement of Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) in the competitive Democratic Senate primary in California, breaking with former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is supporting Rep. Adam B. Schiff.
Clyburn served alongside Pelosi (D-Calif.) in House leadership for years, most recently as majority whip when she was speaker during the last Democratic-led Congress. Clyburn now holds a lower-ranking leadership position, assistant Democratic leader.
In a statement, Clyburn called Lee “the voice Americans need now in the U.S. Senate.”
“She stands by what she believes in, and she doesn’t back down,” Clyburn said. “In the Senate, she will use all of her experiences to address the challenges that Californians and Americans are dealing with every day, including economic inequality, housing affordability, and the climate crisis.”
Both Clyburn and Lee are former chairs of the Congressional Black Caucus. There are no Black women in the Senate, and only two have served during its entire history.
Lee has sought to position herself as a the most progressive voice in a 2024 Democratic primary that also includes Schiff (D-Calif.) and Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), who also has sought to lay claim to that mantle.
In announcing her support for Schiff in February, Pelosi said that he “knows well the nexus between a strong Democracy and a strong economy.”
“In his service in the House, he has focused on strengthening our Democracy with justice and on building an economy that works for all,” she said.
Schiff is the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He served as the lead impeachment manager in the first Senate trial of former president Donald Trump and as a member of the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Though out-of-state endorsements often don’t carry much weight in Senate races, Clyburn has established himself as a kingmaker in his own state of South Carolina. His endorsement of Joe Biden in the state’s Democratic presidential primary helped Biden win the state and set him on a path to the 2020 Democratic nomination after weak showings in earlier nominating contests.
The California Democrats are angling to succeed Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who in February announced plans to retire at the end of her term. She has been absent from the Senate for weeks, recovering from shingles in California.
During a news conference Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) was seen carrying notes suggesting that he is hopeful Feinstein will return next week. Feinstein’s office, however, did not attach a timetable to her return.
“Senator Feinstein continues to make progress in her recovery, however, we don’t have a timeline yet for her return to Washington which is dependent on her medical team saying it is safe to travel,” the office said in a statement.