Silicon Valley executive Lexie Reese Thursday announced her candidacy for the Senate, joining the crowded race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
“I want better for the people of California,” Reese said in a statement posted on her campaign’s website. “As your senator, I’m going 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, a Democrat, described herself as “a former non-profit 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.
Reese has been a limited partner with the San Francisco-based venture capital firm Operator Collective since 2019 and was an executive in residence of the San Francisco Bay-area based venture capital firm General Catalyst from Jan. 2022-May 2023.
Reese was also a board member of The Gap and has also worked for American Express, was 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.
Reese joins Reps. Barbara Lee, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, all Democrats, and attorney Eric Early, a Republican, in the race to succeed Sen. Feinstein.