WASHINGTON, D.C. (KRON) – Bernie Sanders has a commanding lead in California polls.
“It’s a much larger lead than expected. It looks like he’s right around the mid to high 30s,” Spencer Kimball, with the CA Emerson College Poll, said.
And that’s making some moderate Democrats nervous.
“How is he going to support and help the Democratic party grow,” Katie Porter said.
“I’m worried about our race and how we get our message out to the people,” Gil Cisneros said.
Democrats Gil Cisneros and Katie Porter say they’ll support whoever the Democratic nominee is.
But both won their seats in traditionally Republican districts in 2018 and both will likely have tough races in November.
Porter says a non-traditional Democrat at the top of the ticket will have to prove how he can stay on message without isolating, and turning off large swaths of the party.
“That’s especially important for candidates like Mike Bloomberg and Bernie Sanders who’ve critiqued the democratic establishment,” Porter said.
And while a Sanders ticket could make winning harder in battleground districts like hers, Porter says she and her fellow Democrats need to take ownership of their own races.
“You should not be relying on ANY presidential candidate to be lifting up your message in your community. That’s really my job and my privilege,” Porter said.
“Whoever the nominee is, we’ll rally behind him because the important thing is to get Trump out of office,” Cisneros said.
Cisneros says for that reason, California Democrats will be united behind whoever the party chooses.