Newsom faces backlash after saying he would appoint a Black woman as interim senator

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office Monday tried to contain the political brushfire ignited by his suggestion he would appoint a Black woman caretaker as an interim senator if the ailing Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is unable to complete her term.

A Newsom aide said there’s no vacancy to discuss and none appears 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 one,” said Anthony York, Newsom’s senior adviser for communications and strategy.

The potential Senate vacancy is another chapter in Newsom’s fraught relationship with some Black Democratic activists. They were upset in 2021 when he appointed then-Secretary of State Alex Padilla to replace Kamala Harris, the Senate’s only Black woman.

Now, he’s ruling out Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, for the job, since she’s seeking a full term next year against Reps. Katie Porter, D-Orange County, and Adam Schiff, D-Los Angeles, and others.

“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

The furor began Sunday when Newsom told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that should Feinstein, 90, leave office before her term ends in January 2025 he would make an “interim appointment” rather than name someone already running in the Democratic primary scheduled for March 5.

“I don’t want to get involved in the primary,” Newsom said.

Naming someone running in that race “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.”

So, asked moderator Chuck Todd, “it would be essentially a caretaker—an African American woman?”

Newsom replied, “We hope we never have to make this decision, but I abide by what I’ve said very publicly on a consistent basis. Yes.”

Newsom pledged in 2021 to name a Black woman to fill any Senate vacancy. But his suggestion that she be only a caretaker — meaning she would fill the unexpired term only and not run for a full six years — was met with bitter criticism Monday and over the weekend.

‘Insulting to countless Black women’

Lee and others were instantly outraged.

“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 Sunday night.

Allison was also troubled.

“It’s now time for Governor Newsom to stand by that pledge but in no way should he have introduced the concept of a placeholder’ in the decision,” she told The Bee Monday.

She recalled that he put no such restrictions on his choice when he named Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., to replace Kamala Harris when she became vice president in 2021.

“He didn’t risk insulting the Latino community that had called for representation by saying he couldn’t commit to their representation long term. So why would the governor say so now when it relates to appointing a Black woman?” Allison asked.

Lee is highly regarded in the Black and liberal communities. Among her advisers are staffers who worked in Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaigns.

Lee trailed Schiff and Porter with 7% in last month’s Berkeley-IGS poll. But about one-third of voters remain undecided, and Lee was the choice of one-fourth of voters who regard themselves as liberal.

Newsom first made the pledge to name a Black woman during a March, 2021 interview with MSNBC’s Joy Reid.

Reid asked if he would name a Black woman should Feinstein leave office.

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

Lee and Karen Bass, then a congresswoman and now the mayor of Los Angeles, seemed the logical choices.

Prominent Black California Democratic women in office would probably be reluctant to give up their jobs for a temporary assignment. In addition to Bass and Lee, candidates could include Reps. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles, Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, Secretary of State Shirley Weber and San Francisco Mayor London Breed.

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

“If the Governor intends to keep his promise and appoint a Black woman to the Senate, the people of California deserve the best possible person for that job. Not a token appointment.

“Black women deserve more than a participation trophy. We need a seat at the table,” Lee said.