Senate pick: Pressure mounts on Gov. Newsom to pick woman of color to replace Kamala Harris.
SACRAMENTO — As Gov. Gavin Newsom weighs who should replace Sen. Kamala Harris, private lobbying has burst forth into public campaigns by groups hoping to sway the governor’s decision.
Pressure has ramped up in recent weeks for Newsom to select either a Black woman or a Latino to fill Harris’ seat in the U. S. Senate when she resigns in January to become vice president. Both groups have long been underrepresented in elected office, even as their voting power and political influence has grown.
It’s a significant — and potentially historic — decision for Newsom, whose appointee could go on to represent California in Washington, D. C., for decades to come. But first that new senator will face the voters in 2022, requiring them to quickly build public support or risk following in the footsteps of Republican John Seymour, the last California senator appointed by a governor, who lost his election bid to Dianne Feinstein in 1992.
Newsom said at a news conference Monday that he had not yet picked Harris’ replacement and didn’t have a timeline for that decision.
“But progress has been made in terms of getting closer to that determination,” he said.
Organizations ranging from the LGBTQ Victory Fund to the Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California have released open letters, bought advertisements and held rallies to catch Newsom’s attention and make their case for the governor to pick a senator who aligns with their agenda.
Two Democratic donor groups purchased fullpage advertisements in The Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times this week, urging Newsom to choose a woman of color. Paid for by Electing Women Bay Area and the Los Angeles Women’s Collective, the ad notes that Harris is one of only four women of color in the 100member Senate and that no new Democratic female senators were elected this fall.
“Women of color are the core drivers of electoral progress in this country and their voices should be heard in the nation’s highest governing body,” reads the ad, which was signed by more than 150 top female donors, including philanthropists and business magnates from San Francisco and Silicon Valley. “California is fortunate to have a strong pipeline of women of color in elected office who are prepared to serve.”
African American leaders have argued that the appointee should be another Black woman. Harris, whose parents immigrated from Jamaica and India, is only the second Black woman to ever serve in the Senate. Without her, there will be none.
During a call organized by the California Legislative Black Caucus this month, Assemblywoman Shirley Weber said Black women should be recognized for being the most reliable base of Democratic voters. She said Newsom should appoint one of two veteran congresswomen, Karen Bass of Los Angeles or Barbara Lee of Oakland, to fill the seat.
“The African American community has proven itself in this election and in past elections to be the strongest force in the Democratic Party,” said Weber, a Democrat from San Diego. “No other group can make that claim in California or in any other state. We are adamant that the replacement of Sen. Harris’ seat must be an African American.”
Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who helped give Newsom his start in politics, told Politico that he was also organizing African American churches, civic leaders, fraternal organizations and media to press the governor to select a Black woman.
But Latino advocacy groups have been adamant that California’s next senator should be a Latino or Latina. Though they now comprise the largest ethnic group in the state, at about 40% of the population, no Latino has ever represented California in the Senate.
Over the course of five news conferences across the state last week — in Sacramento, Fresno, San Diego, Los Angeles and San Jose — dozens of legislators, local elected officials and community activists called on Newsom to throw his support to one of many qualified Latinos politicians.
Secretary of State Alex Padilla, a longtime political ally of Newsom’s and a former staffer of Feinstein’s, is seen as a heavy favorite. Activists have floated Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia as other possibilities.
With the coronavirus pandemic taking a disproportionate toll on Latinos and immigration policy likely to be a focal point of the next presidential administration, Jacqueline Martinez Garcel, CEO of the Latino Community Foundation, said it would be “tonedeaf” for Newsom not to finally elevate a Latino voice to the Senate.
“To not do it at this moment would be pretty upsetting,” she said. “Folks have been waiting for this for a very long time.”