Gavin Newsom faces the decision he never wanted to make: How to replace Dianne Feinstein

Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s death Friday puts enormous political pressure on Gov. Gavin Newsom to pick a successor acceptable to Black Democrats, who are already furious at him for his ideas about a replacement.

After replacing Sen. Kamala Harris, the Senate’s only Black woman, with Sen. Alex Padilla in 2021, Newsom told MSNBC’s Joy Reid that if he had to appoint someone else to the Senate, it would be a Black woman.

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, who’s running for Feinstein’s seat next year, was thought to be the likely choice. But Newsom last month said he would name a Black woman on an interim basis to complete Feinstein’s term, which ends in January 2025.

He spoke about his decision on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where moderator Chuck Todd said, “it would be essentially a caretaker—an African American woman?”

He explained that choosing one of the Democrats running for the full term — Reps. Adam Schiff and Katie Porter are also candidiates — “would be completely unfair to the Democrats that have worked their tail off. That primary is just a matter of months away. I don’t want to tip the balance of that.”

That ignited a political firestorm, as Lee and others protested. “The idea that a Black woman should be appointed only as a caretaker to simply check a box is insulting to countless Black women across this country who have carried the Democratic Party to victory election after election,” she tweeted shortly after Newsom made his comments.

Newsom clearly was not eager to make the decision. “I don’t want to make another appointment. I don’t think the people of California want me to make another appointment,” he said on “Meet the Press.”

His reluctance was about more than navigating a sensitive political decision at moment when he is trying to build his own national brand as Democratic party leader and future presidential nominee. He and Feinstein were close friends with deep personal and political roots in San Francisco. Both were mayors of the city. Both were early champions of gay rights. They were stalwart liberals with a pragmatic streak.

In a statement Friday, the governor said he and his wife were “deeply saddened.”

He said “Dianne Feinstein was many things — a powerful, trailblazing U.S. Senator; an early voice for gun control; a leader in times of tragedy and chaos. But to me, she was a dear friend, a lifelong mentor, and a role model not only for me, but to my wife and daughters for what a powerful, effective leader looks like.”

Newsom has no apparent deadline to make his choice, but Senate Democrats need a successor quickly. Feinstein’s death means the chamber has just 50 members who caucus with the party. That puts the Senate back to where it was in the first two years of the Biden administration, where one Democratic defection can sink a party initiative.

Feinstein’s death also means the Senate Judiciary Committee, which can approve judicial appointments and send them to the full Senate, is now equally divided between Republicans and Democrats—making it far more difficult to get the nominations to the floor.

When Feinstein was ailing earlier this year, Democrats tried to replace her, but Republicans blocked that bid. While Democrats will presumably try again to add a member, GOP lawmakers could again stop the appointment.

Newsom’s pick can take office almost immediately. Most states, including California, allow the governor to name a temporary replacement until the next election. In 2021, he chose Padilla to fill the remainder of Kamala Harris’ term when she became vice president.

In 1991, Gov. Pete Wilson named Republican John Seymour to succeed him in the Senate when Wilson became governor. Seymour then lost the 1992 election to Feinstein.

The Firestorm

After Lee made her comments last month, Newsom adviser Anthony York replied that there was no vacancy to discuss and none appeared imminent. “This is a hypothetical on top of a hypothetical. There is no vacancy for any U.S. Senate seat, nor does the Governor anticipate there will be,” he said.

Feinstein had previously said she would retire at the end of her six-year term in January 2025. Lee has been third in recent polls, behind Schiff, D-Los Angeles, and Porter, D-Orange County, in the race for the full term.

Lee, a congresswoman since 1998, is highly regarded in the progressive and Black community.

“If Representative Barbara Lee is not Governor Newsom’s choice, I believe it would be a huge political miscalculation for him. With Governor Newsom’s potential national political ambitions, he will need to be seen as someone that can be trusted by an incredibly energized voting bloc,” said Aimee Allison, president and founder of Oakland-based She The People, a political network of women of color

Newsom and Black activists

Newsom has had a difficult relationship with the Black community, starting with his choice of Padilla. The governor was asked by MSNBC’s Reid if he would name a Black woman if another appointment came up.

“I have multiple names in mind. We have multiple names in mind — and the answer is yes,” he said.

Newsom didn’t name names.

Those most prominently mentioned include Karen Bass, a former congresswoman and now the mayor of Los Angeles, though she’s regarded as unlikely to leave that job.

Also in the mix could be Reps. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles, seen as rising star in Washington; Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, a longtime outspoken progressive; Secretary of State Shirley Weber and San Francisco Mayor London Breed.

The Senate today has no Black women, and there have been only two in the chamber’s history, Harris, who served from 2017 to 2021, and Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, D-Illinois, who served one term in the 1990s.