By Emily Cadei, Sacramento Bee

Officially, the national Democratic party has stayed out of the hard-fought Democratic battle to take on Rep. Tom McClintock in California’s 4th district. But unofficially, D.C. Democrats have sent a pretty clear signal about who they favor to finish among the top two candidates in the June 5th primary.

Roza Calderon, Regina Bateman, Jessica Morse

Campaign finance reports reveal that the number two House Democrat, veteran Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, donated $7,000 to former State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development staffer Jessica Morse in late March — $2,000 from his congressional campaign and $5,000 from his political action committee, AMERIPAC.

The DCCC has not weighed in on the 4th district contest, which is not a top-tier race for the party at this point. President Trump won the sprawling district, which includes Lake Tahoe, by a comfortable margin in 2016, and McClintock has faced little competition in recent elections. But the contest has crept onto Democrats’ radar in recent months, thanks to local grassroots organizing efforts and a flood of money that has buoyed Morse and a second Democrat, Regina Bateson, a political science professor on unpaid leave from MIT. Political handicappers have moved the race from “safe” Republican to “leans” Republican, as a result.

Less than a month from the primary election, Morse and Bateson remain locked in a fierce race for party votes.

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