Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein has refused an invitation to debate her principal opponents in California's senatorial primary because there are too many candidates in the race, her campaign spokesman said Thursday.
Feinstein rebuffed an overture by Indivisible Los Angeles, the local chapter of a Washington, D.C.-based progressive group that works with activists to resist the Trump agenda, to debate three of her top contenders on May 5, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The Feinstein campaign initially claimed the senator had a prior commitment in San Francisco on the proposed date. When the progressive group suggested accommodating the event around Feinstein's schedule, even offering to let the campaign pick the date, Feinstein's staff said it would not be fair to have a debate that did not include all of the candidates.
Feinstein, 84, has 31 primary opponents who are vying to prevent her from returning to Washington, D.C. next January. The Indivisible debate, however, would have only included the top four contenders, based on fundraising and polling numbers. The invitees, all Democrats, included Feinstein, state Sen. Kevin de León, and two other candidates with little name recognition.
The high number of opponents that Feinstein has drawn is due in part to California's jungle primary system, in which candidates from all political parties face each other on one ballot, with the top two vote-getters moving forward to a head-to-head matchup in November.
A spokesman for the Feinstein campaign, Jeff Millman, said the senator will abide by a promise she made to the editorial board of the San Francisco Chronicle to debate whoever her opponent is in the general election.
"Senator Feinstein looks forward to debating her opponent in the general election," Millman said.
The debate invitation comes as Feinstein is facing an insurgency challenge from the left in her quest to secure a fifth full term in the Senate. Feinstein's leading opponent, de León, has campaigned on a progressive platform, pushing a single-payer health care system, sanctuary cities, and opposition to President Donald Trump to the forefront of the race.
De León's strategy has paid off with voter enthusiasm; he's currently second to Feinstein in the polls, but his campaign continues to trail Feinstein in fundraising.
A spokesman for de León, Jonathan Underland, said the state senator is eager to debate Feinstein and display the contrasts, in policy and style, that exist between the two candidates.
"We basically said we'll clear his calendar 100%, we'll clear his calendar if Feinstein shows up," Underland said. "We'd love to make it happen, but we want her to be there."