Top Clinton aide to run for California governor
Amanda Renteria, a longtime Democratic operative and the national political director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, has filed paperwork to run for California governor.
Renteria, Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s operations chief, a job she took following her 2014 loss to Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, had been telling Democratic strategists that she was mulling what one described as a “disruptive” bid to succeed Gov. Jerry Brown. She did not immediately return a text message seeking comment on her statement of intention to run.
Becerra, who is running for a full term this year, has not endorsed in the governor’s race.
Renteria, 43, would join a contest featuring a male-dominated field led by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Her filing comes amid renewed questions into the leading Democrats’ extramarital affairs, now against the backdrop of the roiling #Metoo movement. Delaine Eastin, the state’s former schools chief, is far behind in polls and fundraising.