Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) delivers remarks during a House hearing investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol on June 21, 2022.
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Kevin Deitch/Getty Images
Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) delivers remarks during a House hearing investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol on June 21, 2022.
Kevin Deitch/Getty Images
California Congressman Adam Schiff has announced his bid for the Senate, entering what could be the most crowded and high-profile primary race of the 2024 cycle.
Schiff announced his candidacy in a Video on Twitter Thursday. He joins Congresswoman Katie Porter, who announced his offer for the venue earlier this month. Representatives Ro Khanna and Barbara Lee may also consider running.
The seat currently held by 89-year-old Dianne Feinstein is solidly Democratic, but the rest of the 2024 Senate map is expected to be tough for the party — with re-election candidates in swing states like Michigan, Ohio and Arizona. Democrats are also up for re-election in heavily conservative Montana and West Virginia.
Feinstein has not said whether she will run for re-election or retire next year. She told reporters that she would likely make her decision “in a few months” but that she had no concerns about others entering the race before then.
“I think everything is fine. I think people should, if they want to run, run,” Feinstein said the day before Schiff announced. “For me, I just need a little more time.”
Schiff, 62, rose to national prominence during the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump. As chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, he played a key role in the investigation and also served as head of impeachment.
In his campaign announcement, he called Trump’s impeachment “the biggest job of [his] life.”
“I wish I could say that the threat of extremism is over.” It’s not,” he said. “Today’s Republican Party is gutting the middle class and threatening our democracy. They won’t stop. We have to stop them.”
Schiff also served on the panel investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2000 after serving in the California Senate and as an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles.