Let the people vote to pick a successor for Harris
Sen. Kamala Harris will have the honor of being sworn in as the vice president of the United States. Shortly thereafter, she may have the distinct honor as president of the Senate to swear in her Senate successor. That person should represent the values and vision of California; they should also be a caretaker senator to help advance the BidenHarris agenda while we voters engage in a special election.
Why a caretaker? As I wrote 12 years ago when Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden were elected, “Vacancies should be filled as democratically as possible. U. S. Senate seats should have elections just as U. S. House seats do. With advances in votebymail and new media tools, costs for both election officials and candidates go down and public confidence in democracy goes up. Let the people decide.”
At that time, the competition for Obama’s Illinois Senate seat sent a contender and the governor to prison; the other Senate vacancies stirred up internecine political fights in New York, Colorado and Florida just at the moment when the new president needed to “go big,” not the “small ball” of petty politics that pitted supporters of terrific candidates against each other and diluted his mandate for hope and change.
Today, I see nothing in the past 12 years to change my mind: Presidentelect Biden and Vice Presidentelect Harris need to bring America together, not divide or disappoint Democrats in Senate vacancy disputes. Moreover, with California struggling with wildfires, housing insecurity and the COVID19 pandemic’s health and economic crises, Gov. Gavin Newsom can ill afford the distraction of a party battle when his pick, however excellent, is challenged for the job throughout the next two years.
As I wrote to Newsom before the election: “Declare a special ( election) and appoint a caretaker. You don’t need the aggravation of leading a slate of incumbents who may all get challenged if people don’t like your pick.
“Remember Gov. Pat Brown said when he picked a judge he got 99 enemies and one ingrate. Since everyone and their mother except me and mine want the job, do yourself a favor and tell them to earn it. And being on the side of democracy is always good.
“If you really feel you need to pick a candidate to do two full years not four months until a special election, PICK A CARETAKER and let the primary run its course. Do yourself and the party and the state and the country a favor and let the people decide.”
I acknowledged that Team Obama did not take my public advice. In almost all cases, Democrats lost either the governor, the senator — or the party faithful. A new president needs to be above the fray, not deep into primary politics.
Now that California’s U. S. Senate vacancy has been created with the BidenHarris victory, it’s time for the governor to ask the California Legislature for the power to call a U. S. Senate special election for the same time frame he will already have to call a state Senate special election for Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell’s seat.
It’s time for healing, continuity and democracy. Let all the wonderful and talented Californians who want to serve us as U. S. senator earn the privilege with an open field. That is the fairest way to keep our state’s interests represented in Washington, D. C., and our party’s future contested here at home.