Arguing that California needs a new type of representation in the capital, Silicon Valley executive Lexi Reese announced Thursday that she will run for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by retired Senator Diane Feinstein. .
“You can’t do the same thing over and over again and get different results. We need better results,” said Reese, 48. “The same type of experienced politicians are taking the same approach, and it’s felt not only by me, but by many of the people I talk to.” Kind of like a real bad reality TV brawl that doesn’t stand up. It doesn’t give different results. ”
Reese, a Democrat who has worked at companies including Google, Facebook and American Express, has never run for office. She will join the crowded field vying for Feinstein’s seat next year.
Rep. Adam Schiff of Burbank, Rep. Katie Porter of Irvine and Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland are the top Democrats trying to win seats, with lawyer Eric Early and veteran Republican James Bradley is best known for Former Los Angeles Dodgers baseball star Steve GarveyHe is also a Republican and is considering running.
Mr. Rees is well-known in the business world, but not as well-known as other Democrats running for seats. Reese said he didn’t want to give an inaccurate number and said he would file the required financial disclosures, and he declined to disclose his net worth. She cannot fund her campaign herself, but she plans to invest a “substantial” amount, she said.
“I don’t have a hard number because I think it depends,” Reese said. “I think it’s very important that this campaign is only possible with the support of tens of thousands and millions of Californians.”
Her campaign includes veteran strategists such as 2020 Biden presidential pollster Celinda Lake and Rebecca Piercy, who served as head of state affairs during Senator Elizabeth Warren’s presidential run. ing.
In California, wealthy individuals such as Republicans Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, and Democrat Al Checchi failed to run for office, raising campaign funds with their own funds or donating large amounts of money. has a long history of
Reese attributes success to his nearly 30 years of experience working in technology and business to create opportunities for small businesses and nonprofits, as well as his background growing up in a difficult family. ing..
Reese said her father worked for Sears for more than 20 years before he lost his job in the 1980s to automation. Her parents were divorced and her brother struggled with addiction. Her sister recovered, but her brother died from it in 2017.
“So I know better,” Reese said. “It’s very personal to me, but when you lose your paycheck, you lose more than a dollar. It can be a loss of dignity. It can be a loss of the security that binds families together.”
These experiences, she said, have given her a unique perspective and skill set to “unlock the economy and create a path to more inclusive and shared prosperity.”
She said she had spent the past year talking to people across the state and decided to run because of the serious problems facing residents.
“California is great in many ways, but the economy is very messed up,” Reese said. “California is getting harder to live in. It’s expensive. Homelessness is out of control. Housing is out of reach. Crime and gun violence are on the rise. And we are facing a massive climate change that will bring fires and floods everywhere.”
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State and local governments are responsible for many of these issues, and some of Reese’s proposals, such as adding “digital citizens” to public school curricula, fall outside federal jurisdiction.
However, the federal government has taken steps to address these issues, such as creating a federal minimum wage for teachers, paying for education and lifetime benefits for teachers and healthcare workers, and offering a “human capital tax credit” to companies that invest in workers. She said it could affect Reduce federal tax and small business regulation. She said she would propose a bill that would pay federally elected employees the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
Access to abortion, gun control, and protecting the LGBTQ+ community are also among her top priorities.
“Let’s take federal law seriously through the eyes of the families who will live with the consequences,” Reese said. “In my world, we argue and debate and then disagree and commit. I’ve never seen it work in the way it does, and that’s what I want to change.”
