Jake Rakov, a former staffer to Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), is launching a bid Wednesday to oust his one-time boss. Rakov, 37, is part of a string of Democrats waging intra-party battles against a long-time House incumbents by calling for a generational change in leadership. ...

Rakov served as Sherman’s deputy communications director in 2017. He is active in the LGBTQ+ community in the district and sat on the steering committee for Los Angeles’ Stonewall Democratic Club.

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) is headed for a competitive primary election next year after his former congressional staffer Jake Rakov launched a primary challenge on Wednesday.

“I’m running for Congress against my former boss who’s been in office for nearly 30 years,” Rakov, 37, said on social media. “It’s time for a new generation of Democrats to step up. We can’t keep sending the same people to DC and expecting things to change.”

Rakov is running to represent California’s 32nd District in the House of Representatives, a seat that is currently occupied by 15-term incumbent Democrat Brad Sherman, whom Jake Rakov used to work for as a deputy communications secretary back in 2017. I talked to Rakov to discuss why he felt the need to challenge his former boss and what Democrats, in general, are doing wrong.

Their goal - unseating Democratic incumbents in the House of Representatives and replacing them with new voices. California's Jake Rakov is one of those candidates. The 37-year-old political strategist is running to represent the state's 32nd Congressional District, part of Los Angeles County. He's challenging 14-term incumbent Brad Sherman, who Rakov worked for in 2017.

“Instead of doing everything possible to stop Donald Trump from becoming president and helping Democrats win the House, Brad Sherman selfishly sat on nearly $4 million last year. He doesn’t represent a competitive district, but he kept the money to try and make sure someone like me would be too intimidated to run against him this cycle,” said Jake Rakov, a former staffer of Rep. Sherman who is now running against him.

Rakov worked for Sherman as a deputy communications director in 2017 and since then worked in Los Angeles politics and some campaigns.

But he slammed Sherman as ineffective, adding, "He likes to brag about seniority. He has been passed over for leadership positions on his committees ... Seniority doesn't matter if no one is willing to work with you."

Many of those candidates are making cases for generational change.

“It is about needing new energy in Congress to actually meet the moment where we are,” said 37-year-old Jake Rakov, who is challenging his former boss, 15-term Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman of California. “We just need people who are more active communicators, who can move the party into the 21st century and don’t operate like it’s 1996.”

“Too many on our team just don’t have the fight we need right now,” said Jake Rakov, a 37-year-old former congressional staffer who is mounting a primary challenge to his onetime boss, 70-year-old Rep. Brad Sherman (D., Calif.).

“Looking after Trump won again and seeing [Sherman] use the exact same talking points that I helped draft for him back in 2017 during Trump’s first term, and still have the same mentality about how to communicate on social media and how to advocate, he was still doing the same outdated things,” Rakov said. “This is a guy who is such a shining example of the systematic problems with our party.”

Jake Rakov, a former staffer for Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), is seeking to unseat his former boss. Rakov criticized Sherman’s leadership and said the congressman had become disconnected from his constituents. He also noted that Sherman hadn’t hosted a town hall in the last five years. Rakov, 37, said Democrats need a new wave of energy.

Rakov, who was a staffer for Sherman in 2017, said after Trump took office in January, he saw Sherman making TV appearances using similar messaging and “doing the exact same thing” as he did in Trump’s first term. He said that’s when he knew he had to run.

“I was like, ‘This is exactly what’s wrong with the Democratic Party,’” Rakov said. “If we keep going down this road, it’s gotten us Trump twice. I don’t want to think about what it’s going to get us next time if we don’t change route.”

Watching Sherman on television in January, Rakov felt as though he was seeing the congressman use some of the same talking points that he had after Trump’s first victory in 2016.

“We’re just regurgitating the same things that he and other people like him have been doing for decades, and all that’s gotten us is Trump twice,” Rakov said in an interview. “So what are we doing here? Nothing is going to change if we keep sending the same Democrats back to D.C.”

The intergenerational infighting amongst Democrats has come to Los Angeles County.

Jake Rakov, a former staffer to Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, will run against his ex-boss for California’s 32nd Congressional District seat when the current officeholder is up for reelection next year.

Jake Rakov wants to represent District 32 in the US Congress, with includes the Pacific Palisades. He is challenging 15-term incumbent Brad Sherman.

This week, 37-year-old Jake Rakov launched a primary challenge to 15-term California Congressman Brad Sherman (D). The challenge, made even more interesting given that Rakov once served as Deputy Communications Director for Sherman. Fresh off his campaign launch, Rakov joins Cher Calvin and Micah Ohlman to discuss his campaign, his priorities, and the changing of the Democratic guard in the face of the Trump presidency.

Jake Rakov, a onetime deputy communications director for Sherman, launched his candidacy Wednesday morning with a video in which he ripped his ex-boss. His candidacy was first reported by Politico. "If you want to know why we as Democrats are so bad at fighting back against Trump, look at guys like my former boss," Rakov said.

Jake Rakov, a former aide to Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), on Wednesday announced he is launching a primary challenge against his onetime 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.

Rakov made three promises in his campaign video: to seek 10-year term limits for Congress, to not accept corporate PAC money and to host monthly in-person town halls for California constituents.

“We’re both progressive Democrats, and I’m sure we’ll find daylight on a few things here and there,” Rakov said, “but I think this is much more about being a better member of Congress and actually doing what needs to be done in this moment in time.”

Sherman on Wednesday became the latest House Democrat to find himself facing a primary challenge, from his 37-year-old former aide Jake Rakov, Politico reported.

Sherman, 70, represents parts of Los Angeles County, including some of the areas ravaged by wildfires earlier this year.

STUDIO CITY, Ca. – Jake Rakov today announced that he is running for Congress in California’s 32nd District. Rakov, who previously worked for incumbent Rep. Brad Sherman, is centering his campaign around Democrats needing new leadership in Washington and a three-point pledge to voters.