NEWSOM’S PROMISE LOOMS OVER SENATE RACE
If Feinstein resigns, governor will have to appoint replacement
Two years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed on national television that if Sen. Dianne Feinstein stepped down early, he would appoint a Black woman to replace her.
It was a promise that was only theoretical at the time even though questions were already emerging about the fitness of Feinstein, who turns 90 next month, to serve out her term. But after Feinstein developed shingles earlier this year, was homebound and then returned to Washington frailer than ever, the contingency plan has become far more pressing — and more politically complicated.
A heated 2024 campaign to replace Feinstein is already under way, featuring three heavyweights from the California congressional delegation: Rep. Katie Porter, a favorite of the progressive left; Rep. Adam Schiff, who earned national fame managing the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump; and Rep. Barbara Lee, the only Black woman of the three, who is best known for casting the lone vote in Congress against the war in Afghanistan more than two decades ago.
Now, if a vacancy comes, Newsom would have to decide whether to elevate Lee over her White rivals or find a caretaker who would agree not to seek a full term in 2024, presuming he keeps his pledge.
“The hard part now is the race is not that many months away, right?” Newsom said in a local television news interview this month about the upcoming Senate election. “The primary is early next year so it’s now a very different place — it’s not an academic conversation, like it was a year ago.”
Black leaders are watching closely. “The one thing we have as political people is our word,” said Lori D. Wilson, the chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus, who supports the appointment of Lee.
Newsom has already appointed one senator, replacing
Kamala Harris, after she became vice president, with Sen. Alex Padilla, who is California’s first Latino senator. The decision in December 2020, however, left no Black women in the Senate, disappointing Black leaders and party activists.
Nearly three months later, Newsom promised to appoint a Black woman to replace Feinstein, if she ever were to resign, during an interview on MSNBC with Joy Reid, the network’s most prominent Black female anchor.
Feinstein has given no indication that she plans to step down even as her condition has plainly worsened. A New York Times report this week revealed that Feinstein had suffered from encephalitis, a previously undisclosed complication of the bout of shingles that kept her away from the Senate for more than two months. The condition, which is characterized by swelling of the brain, can result in lasting memory or language problems.
Newsom has expressed his wishes for her improved health, calling her “a mentor and a friend.” But he cannot escape the political ramifications if she were to leave office early, since he would be forced to pick her replacement.
“I hope I’ll never have to make that decision,” Newsom said last month.
Garry South, a Democratic political consultant who worked in the administrations of former governors in California and Ohio, says Newsom’s dilemma recalls what he describes as the poisoned chalice of political appointments.
“It’s kind of a no-win situation,” he said of Newsom’s choice of candidates. “When you appoint somebody to office you get one ingrate and nine people who are pissed off at you.”
South, who once served as a campaign manager for Newsom, predicted that the governor would not “put his thumb on the scale” among the three candidates.
“I think he would be perfectly excused for appointing a caretaker until the Democrats can sort out which of these three major Democrats they want to move onto the general election,” he said.