Sarah Nichols is ripped.

The environmental activist and fundraiser loves the three Democrats running to replace Senator Diane Feinstein, who is 90 and has said she will not run for re-election. Feinstein’s potential successors are concerned with consumer protection, environmental justice and inequality, which excites Nichols.

“I would be very happy to see one of these extraordinary candidates – Rep. Adam Schiff, Rep. Katie Porter, Rep. Barbara Lee – win Diane Feinstein’s seat. Sadly. , they will continue to fight for the foreseeable future, trying to win our hearts,” Nichols wrote in an email to his political network in April.

But as Mr. Nichols pondered which candidates to endorse, getting a woman to represent California in the Senate became a priority. She wants her generation to change, too, and can’t ignore the fact that Lee will soon turn 77.

Lee said, “It’s in line with my political worldview. She’s one of the kindest people I know. I love that woman dearly. But I also love my country.” I love you and I love my granddaughter even more,” Nichols told The Times.

“My generation has wrecked this planet so badly. We had a chance. It’s time to move on,” she continued. “But if her term were to end, [Lee] “Had she won, she would be 84. And in 2018, many trusted people told me that Diane Feinstein was showing signs of severe dementia.”

Nichols’ view, speaking to The Times, was shared by a dozen political activists, donors and elected officials who questioned whether it would be appropriate to replace a 90-year-old with a woman in her late 70s. It reflects the concerns heard among officials who were Others, like Nichols, who is 76, say the changing of the guard is desperately needed.

If Mr. Lee wins the 2024 Senate election, the party could be in the same predicament it was in in 2018 when it insisted on running again despite Mr. Feinstein’s demands to resign. She won, but was opposed by California Democrats who supported then-liberal state Senator Kevin de Leon.

Age is still a sensitive topic, at least in public, among the bright lights of California’s political scene. When Mr. Feinstein announced earlier this year that he would not seek another term, it seemed clear the way for a younger man to succeed him.

Porter, a third-term congressman from Irvine, is 49 years old. Schiff was first elected in 2000 at the age of 63. Dodgers star Steve Garvey, 74, is considering running for the Republican nomination. Lee would turn 78 on his first day in office if elected. She will join an organization where the average age of senators is about 65. according to to the Pew Research Center.

The collective excitement over the question seemed oblivious to Feinstein’s absence from Washington for months with shingles and the Capitol during a debate with reporters after returning home. sometimes even higher.

During this time, Porter, Schiff, and Lee wished Feinstein a speedy recovery and said only that it was her choice when to hang up.

A recent poll by the University of California, Berkeley Institute for Government Research and The Times found that most Californians want Feinstein out of office, and nearly two-thirds of the state’s registered voters voted against the recent swath. She said her battle with herpes showed she was no longer fit to serve in Congress.

“Why is DiFi so old, [Lee] No,” said one prominent California Democrat, speaking on condition of anonymity so as not to offend Lee. Feinstein’s deteriorating health is also such a touchy topic that some people were wary of talking about it on record.

“There’s already frustration about how we’re going to spend so much money to get a safe seat for the Democrats this term, but then what? We have to do it,” said the prominent Democrat.

All of this comes at a time when the two leading candidates for president of the United States are both over a quarter century old. President Biden, 80, is constantly battling questions about his own age and his fitness to be president.In a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, 68% of Americans said yes to Biden too old for another season as president. In the same poll, 43% said former President Trump, 77, was too old for his next term.

Ms Lee said the question about her age was a distraction, and said she tackled the question head-on but didn’t let it stop her. she’s running to win Despite reports of She only wants one term, but the option of running again in 2030 isn’t closed.

“It’s important for me to stay focused and not let noise become a destabilizing factor in the campaign because I’m going to win this one,” Lee said. “Voters are going to make their own decisions…People want representation. [there have been] Only two African-American women since 1789. ”

Democrats Adam B. Schiff, 63, and Katie Porter, 49, are also running for Senate from California.

(Kent Nishimura, Robert Gotier/Los Angeles Times)

Currently, she is focused on fundraising. Her election advisers say raising $10 million would help her get to her runoff ballot.

Shortly after the quarterly fundraising deadline closed, Lee’s campaign announced it had raised $1 million in the second quarter and $2.1 million overall. Mr. Schiff’s campaign says it has made $8.1 million in profits and has about $30 million in cash, boosted by House Republican headlines about censure of him. Porter has yet to release his numbers.

Lee said that “only 10%” of donors and supporters bring up her age.

Lee’s allies and some other California Democratic officials said the question about her age smelled sexist, the same double standard they say Feinstein faced. said there is. Elected officials, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have repeatedly said more. sick male senator He has served for a long time without the scrutiny of Feinstein.

“This is the first time I’ve actually heard about her age. She’s amazing. I didn’t even know she was 76,” said Mark Gonzalez, Los Angeles County Democratic Party chair and state legislature candidate. Told. “My only objection to you is, would you ask a white man that?”

Jennifer Aylsher, a professor at the University of Southern California’s Davis School of Gerontology, said the focus on Feinstein’s age speaks for her frustration that she doesn’t fit into the Democratic Party’s liberal leanings.

She says the way the Lee and Biden campaigns are doing gives insight into their health, because “some people in their 70s and 80s are amazing in terms of the amount of energy they have. “Body,” he said.

Lee has been driving around the state, fundraising and meeting voters, and just last week hosted a multi-stop bus tour in the Central Valley.

“Campaigning is hard. said.

“Health risks increase with age and anything can happen to people all the time. It’s a decision we all make when we go to vote,” she said. “But at the end of the day, if the candidate seems a little bit exhausted, I think you might ask a few questions. If you look at the level of energy that the person is showing, it’s going to be great for the person in the years to come. We know a lot about what will happen.”

There are many examples of Californians supporting older candidates for high-profile public offices. Jerry Brown was elected to his final term as governor at the age of 76, nearly 40 years after his first term. The longtime politician challenged reporters to a push-up contest, recently told Politico The 85-year-old is still fit enough to be president, but “it’s not like the old Soviet Union when there were so many people in the Politburo. People want a fresher face,” he said.

Senator Bernie Sanders, now 81, won the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. About half a century ago, Californians elected former San Francisco President Hayakawa, a Republican, to the Senate at the age of 70. Democrat Shirley Weber, 74, became the first black politician to be elected California Secretary of State.

Many of Lee’s supporters see her long record of advocating for progressive policies as an advantage. They are fascinated by her experience in a government that represented the Democratic Party’s most progressive forces and her opposition to sending US troops abroad.

Auckland politicians regularly talk about their past. Her key role in desegregation The cheerleading team at San Fernando Valley High School, the experience of having an illegal abortion in Mexico, volunteering with the Black Panthers, and how his career in politics began. Shirley Chisholm 1972 presidential election campaign.

One of Lee’s strengths, supporters say, is the wisdom he’s acquired with age. She has also witnessed the country’s ever-changing political landscape for more than half a century, from the days of Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement to Trump and his right-wing MAGA movement.

Lee’s campaign chairman, Rep. Lo Khanna, said he was drawn to her willingness to take a bold and unconventional stance. The Fremont Democrats were among the loudest in Congress this spring calling for Feinstein’s long-absent resignation. He said voters viewed the senator as an unfit person to hold office, and this was because “D.C. politicians live by a different set of rules than most Americans have jobs.” It shows that there is For the past 40 years, there has been great frustration with a political system in which die-hard politicians cling to power. ”

Lee is “fresh compared to other candidates. It’s not a matter of age,” Khanna said.

“It is the willingness to question the status quo and to be the only vote against the 20-year war in Afghanistan and to speak out against it.” [invading] In Iraq, they are speaking out against a bloated military budget,” he continued. “When people say, ‘Barbara Lee is my spokesperson,’ that’s what they’re talking about.”

Rep. Barbara Lee left a press conference at the Capitol in May with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Greg Casale and other Congressional Progressives.

(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)

Nathan Barrankin, an independent spending commission consultant who has backed Lee, said her biggest challenge was not her age, but introducing herself to voters.

He said public and private polls show Lee is far less well-known than Porter and Schiff, and voters and political commentators are more likely to share their views on Lee’s age. He added that there is a large gap between For voters, being older isn’t a disadvantage in and of itself, he said. Rather, “In addition to age, there are times when I can’t work.” [or] It’s the gap between where Democratic voters stand on policy and where elected officials stand. ”

“There’s a lot of whispering about this from supporters of a candidate whose name is not Barbara Lee, and that makes me sad,” he said.

This spring, Mr. Barrankin showed poll respondents a campaign launch video of Mr. Schiff, Mr. Porter and Mr. Lee. Decades of images of Lee included a black-and-white photo of her as the first black cheerleader in high school.

He said polls before voters watched the video showed that the numbers were very similar to those in the polls, with Lee trailing Porter and Schiff. But after voters watched the video, her support for Lee increased, especially among those aged 18 to 49, and her approval rating tripled. A similar phenomenon occurred among progressive and liberal voters.

Barrankin said, “I’m saying age doesn’t matter, if it’s nothing more than that.” All the positives are there,” he added.

Former Times staff writer Melanie Mason contributed to this report.