Newsom says he’d appoint Black woman if Feinstein quit

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom would appoint a Black woman to succeed Sen. Dianne Feinstein if she does not finish her term, he said Monday.

Newsom faced pressure from African American and progressive political leaders to name a Black woman to replace Vice President Kamala Harris when she gave up her Senate seat in January. Instead, he picked California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who became the first Latino to represent the state in the Senate.

Harris’ departure left the Senate without any Black women. MSNBC host Joy Reid brought up the subject of what Newsom would do should another vacancy arise in an interview Monday.

“If in fact Dianne Feinstein were to retire, will you nominate an African American woman to restore the seat that Kamala Harris is no longer in the United States Senate?” Reid asked. “And do you have a name in mind?”

Newsom told her, “We have multiple names in mind and the answer is yes.”

Feinstein, who at 87 is the oldest member of the Senate, has given no indication that she plans to retire before her term ends in 2024 — or even then.

“She has no plans to step down,” her spokesperson, Tom Mentzer, said in an email Monday.

Newsom is under immense pressure to keep the state’s broad tent of liberal voters on his side as he launches a campaign to save his job in a likely recall election later this year.

Democratic Reps. Barbara Lee of Oakland and Karen Bass of Los Angeles were among the Black women mentioned as possible replacements for Harris. Although Padilla’s selection made history for the state’s largest ethnic group, many Black women and groups promoting women in color in politics were upset that Newsom overlooked the most reliable base of Democratic voters.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed, in December, called it “a real blow to the African American community, African American women, to women in general.”