Barbara Lee Enters Race to Replace Sen. Feinstein

California Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee has joined a growing list of candidates to replace retiring Sen. Dianne Weinstein. Her staff recently announced that she will not be running for reelection.

The Hill reported the California Democrat had Filled paperwork The lawmaker filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission in order to run for Feinstein’s seat. But, she has yet to officially announce her candidacy.

“[T]he campaign is taking the necessary steps to prepare,” A consultant for Lee spoke to the outlet. “The Congresswoman will have more to say about this before the end of the month.”

Feinstein, 89 is the eldest lawmaker In the upper chamber. On Tuesday, her staff announced that She wouldn’t seek reelectionThe senator was not aware of the press release and initially denied that she had made the decision to retire. Upon a URL=”https://justthenews.com/government/congress/feinstein-unaware-staff-had-announced-her-retirement”>clarification She was confirmed by her staff.

Lee will be joining Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, both California Representatives. Both had already declared their candidacies before Feinstein’s announcement.

California’s primaries are a jungle system that allows multiple candidates of the same party to be in the race before narrowing it down to the top two vote-getters. Two Democrats could theoretically appear on the general election ballot.

Ben Whedon works as an editor and reporter at Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.