Silicon Valley Exec Joins Race For Feinstein's Seat

LOS ANGELES, CA — Silicon Valley executive Lexie Reese announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate Thursday, pledging to "unlock opportunities, get results from our government and truly protect women and families."

In an approximately 2 1/2-minute video, Reese said, "The California Dream is dying, the dream that so many people have for a more secure life. Millions of families are working hard but barely getting by. It is time to work together to build a better future together so we can thrive together."

Reese joins Reps. Barbara Lee, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, all Democrats, and attorney Eric Early, a Republican, in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Reese, a Democrat, described herself as "a former nonprofit and tech leader who is passionate about breaking barriers."

Reese was chief operating officer of the payroll processing firm Gusto from 2015-2021 after working for Google in two four-year stints. In her second, from 2011-15, she spent the first two years as managing director, global publishers and platforms, and the second two as vice president, global programmatic platforms.

Reese initially worked for Google from 2007-11, first as head of online sales and operations, then as sales director, Google Display Network and Doubleclick Ad Exchange. Between her stints at Google she spent seven months as Facebook's director of local advertising.

With Accion, the global nonprofit organization which bills itself as being "committed to creating a financially inclusive world," Reese advocated for hundreds of millions in micro-financing for entrepreneurs, particularly women of color, to start businesses, according to a statement from her campaign, which did not specify the groups.

Reese worked for American Express from 2002-07 as an investments and business development associate and senior director marketing, sales and operations. She started the financial services firm's "Make Mine a Million" program to provide loans, coaching, and networking to female and minority-led small business owners.

Reese has been a limited partner with the San Francisco-based venture capital firm Operator Collective since 2019, was an executive in residence of the San Francisco Bay-area based venture capital firm General Catalyst from January 2022-May 2023, a member of board of directors of the clothing retailer The Gap, a paralegal with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office's sex crimes unit and a documentary filmmaker.

Reese has a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Virginia and a master's degree from the Harvard Business School.

City News Service