BURSTJake Rakov, a former aide to Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), on Wednesday announced he is launching a primary challenge against his former boss.
In a video announcing his campaign, Rakov directly criticized Sherman, who is serving his 15th term in the House, as out of touch with his constituents who want him to take a stronger stand against the Trump administration.
“If you want to know why we as Democrats are so bad at fighting back against Trump, look at guys like my former boss,” he said. “Brad Sherman has been in Washington for nearly 30 years, he sold his home in L.A. and bought a $2 million house in D.C. that he now calls home, and he doesn’t make it back to L.A. much.”
“Congressman Sherman hasn’t held a town hall here in the district in five years. He even bragged about giving speeches to an empty House chamber while his constituents have to fend for themselves after their home is burnt down,” Rakov continued. “If you love Washington that much, there’s no way you’ll be a part of changing it.”
Rakov said he was running for Congress to advocate for term limits for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. He said he wouldn’t accept corporate PAC money and would hold monthly town halls with constituents if elected.
Rakov served as Sherman’s deputy communications director in 2017.
“These guys lit the rule book on fire. It’s gone,” he said in the video over clips of President Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk. “And too many on our side don’t seem to get that.”
Rakov is launching is campaign in the midst of a reckoning among Democrats about the best way to fight back against Trump and Republicans while the GOP holds a trifecta — control of the Senate, House and White House — in Washington. It also comes as a wave of younger lawmakers and candidates are making the case for generational change in the party.
In posts online, Rakov said it is time for a new generation of Democrats to step up because the party can’t keep sending the same politicians to Washington and expect things to change. The candidate said he was eight years old when Sherman, now 70, was elected in 1996.
In an interview with The Hill, Sherman noted that he downsized to a condo within his district and has held various town hall meetings with specific constituent groups and has one slated for mid-April at California State University Northridge.
Sherman also pushed back on Rakov’s view that older lawmakers need to step aside.
“He says he’s younger than I am. He’s right,” the California Democrat said. “On the other hand, it’s good to have seniority in Congress.”
“Seniority is critical in committee assignments. Seniority is critical in getting earmarks. Seniority is critical in going to Republicans that you’ve worked with for years and trying to get an appropriation,” Sherman later said. “Knowing how this place works takes a while.”