As Joe Biden closes in on his choice of a vice-presidential running mate, Democrats in Tuesday’s primaries sent a clear message about what a winning Democratic coalition would look like. Wins for several black progressives in New York congressional primaries, including Jamaal Bowman’s defeat of House Foreign Affairs Chairman Rep. Eliot L. Engel, and, in Kentucky, Charles Booker’s possible win over establishment-backed Amy McGrath in the Senate primary, showed that candidates who unite voters of color and white progressives are the party’s future. If Biden wants to show he’s listening to these voters, there’s one name that apparently isn’t on his current vice-presidential shortlist, but should be: Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).

In her biography alone, Lee brings to the table both an inspirational personal story and years of experience. After suffering a miscarriage at just 16, Lee by age 20 was a single mother to two young boys and living on welfare. Still, she obtained both undergraduate and master’s degrees, at times taking her children to class with her because she could not afford child care. Starting as an intern in the office of former congressman and progressive icon Ron Dellums, Lee worked her way up to become his chief of staff, served eight years in the California state legislature, and in 1998 won a special election to fill the retiring Dellums’s seat. She’s been in the House ever since, including stints chairing the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Congressional Black Caucus.


In choosing Lee, Biden would get a fighter who has the policies to meet the moment. This month, she introduced a bill for a national commission that would “examine the effects of slavery, institutional racism, and discrimination against people of color.” Fifty-six percent of Americans — including 78 percent of Democrats — now support Medicare-for-all, which Lee has backed for years. And her years as “the House’s steadiest advocate for peace” have permanently endeared her to progressive and younger voters and activists.

Joe Biden’s campaign is vetting congresswoman Karen Bass, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, as a candidate to be his running mate, according to a new report from CBS.

Bass, a five-term congresswoman who represents Los Angeles, endorsed Biden back in March.

“Karen Bass would be a big plus…she is a great person in my mind, I work with her every day,” House Majority Whip James Clyburn told CNN in June when asked about Biden’s vetting process.

Former Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes on Tuesday endorsed Senate candidate Charles Booker in the Democratic primary to challenge Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in November.

“Proud to endorse my friend @Booker4KY for U.S. Senate in the Kentucky Democratic Primary! Together, let’s elect a new generation of leadership in KY! #Booker4KY,” Lundergan Grimes tweeted.