“A new California law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) means voters will get two chances to choose a replacement to fill the U.S. Senate seat once held by Vice President Kamala Harris next year,” The Hill reports.

“The law will require California voters to vote twice for U.S. Senate candidates — once to fill the remaining months of Harris’s term, between the November 8 midterm elections and the beginning of the next Congress, in January 2023, and once for a full six-year term that begins in January.”

Washington Post: “Two Latino politicians have emerged as top contenders for the post to be vacated by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who became the first woman of color to win a U.S. Senate seat here in 2016. A selection process has just begun to balance this state’s peculiar demands of history, geography and race that will shape Newsom’s decision, which may not come until the new year.”

“But the characteristics surrounding this choice, and what political analysts, advisers and others say will be important to Newsom, suggest that at this early stage California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) and Secretary of State Alex Padilla (D) are the leading candidates. Among their other attributes is one that analysts and political advisers here say is important to Newsom: Past success in statewide political contests.”

“Six weeks after winning an overwhelming victory among California primary voters, Senator Dianne Feinstein suffered an embarrassing setback Saturday night as the state Democratic Party officially endorsed her rival for election this November,” the New York Times reports.

“Kevin de León, the Democratic leader in California’s State Senate, won the support of the party leadership despite an effort by Ms. Feinstein to convince the party not to offer an endorsement.”

A new Emerson College poll finds Sen. Dianne Feinstein at 38% with no other candidate breaking double digits, and 32% of voters undecided.

While Feinstein receives about 59% of the Democratic vote, and is in a solid position to win the primary, there is a fatigue factor. When voters were asked if Feinstein, first elected to the Senate in 1992, should be re-elected, or was it time to give someone else a chance, 36% opted to re-elect Feinstein, while 47% said it was time for someone else.

Former President Barack Obama endorsed Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) bid to fend off a reelection challenge from the Democratic Party’s left flank, calling the California senator “one of America’s most effective champions for progress,” Politico reports.

“The endorsement — a rare intervention from Obama — served as the highest profile rebuke yet of state Sen. Kevin de León’s (D) long-shot effort to unseat Feinstein.”

California U.S. Senate candidate Patrick Little (R) — who last week topped other Republican Senate candidates in a SurveyUSA poll — told Newsweek “that he admires Adolf Hitler, and would prefer to see Jewish Americans deported to Israel.”

“He falsely denied that the genocide of Jews took place during World War II and incorrectly suggested that Germany was not an aggressor during that conflict.”

“Billionaire Democratic activist Tom Steyer is endorsing state Sen. Kevin de León (D) in his insurgent challenge to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and did not rule out funding an outside effort to boost De León’s chances,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

“The California Democratic Party decided not to endorse in the U.S. Senate contest on Saturday, an embarrassing rebuke of veteran Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA),” the Los Angeles Times reports.

“Feinstein, who has represented California in the Senate for a quarter-century, is facing an insurgent bid by fellow Democrat, state Senate leader Kevin de León. Though De León did not get the endorsement, his success in blocking Feinstein from receiving it shows that his calls for generational change and a more aggressively liberal path have resonated with some of the party’s most passionate activists.”

California state Senate president Kevin de León (D) intends to enter California’s 2018 Senate race against Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), CNN reports.

“De León has begun calling labor leaders and elected officials to inform them of his plans and is expected to soon announce his campaign against Feinstein, a giant of California Democratic politics who has held the office since 1992.”

For members: California’s Primary System Helps Feinstein