We have been following the news of California Senator Dianne Feinstein’s return to Congress after suffering from shingles and the increasing calls for her to resign.
There are now indications that California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been weighing a variety of replacements should her seat become vacant. One name on the shortlist is astonishing.
Should a vacancy occur, a range of names, from obscure to famous — including Oprah Winfrey — have been floated in California circles as possible replacements. Newsom, who is mentioned as a possible future presidential contender, would also have to deal with political complexities, some of his own making: In 2021 he promised to appoint a Black woman should Feinstein’s seat become open. Meanwhile, a 2024 Senate campaign is underway to fill the seat when the senator’s term ends in January 2025.The situation has created a sad, public coda for the groundbreaking career of a Democratic leader who shattered gender barriers in California and Washington.
There are reasons Winfrey’s name is being floated.
Placing a celebrity in the seat could also help Newsom avoid picking favorites among actual declared senate candidates, AP added. U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee is currently running against Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff. Lee is Black, and Porter and Schiff are white.As it stands, Newsom may not even have a chance to make the appointment. Feinstein has said that she is not planning to step down from her position before her term ends in 2025. Feinstein’s office did not immediately return Insider’s request for comment.Winfrey did not immediately return Insider’s request for comment.In 2018, Oprah’s friends pushed her to make a 2020 run for president, according to CNN, but she has publicly denied having presidential ambitions.
Newsom had already appointed one United States senator when Vice President Kamala Harris’s seat went to Senator Alex Padilla, California’s first Latino senator. Newsom then promised to appoint a black woman to replace Feinstein if she ever were to resign.
I suspect he would like not to have to explain why he chose race over qualifications as he eyes his future political career.
Mr. 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,” Mr. Newsom said last month.
Meanwhile, former Senator and First Lady Hillary Clinton is pressing Feinstein to stay in.
“Here’s the dilemma: The Republicans will not agree to add someone else to the Judiciary Committee if she retires,” she told Time magazine on Monday, in an interview published Tuesday night. “I want you to think about how crummy that is. So I don’t know what’s in her heart about whether she really would or wouldn’t, but right now, she can’t. Because if we’re going to get judges confirmed, which is one of the most important continuing obligations that we have, then we cannot afford to have her seat vacant.”Mrs. Clinton suggested that her answer might be different “if Republicans were to say and do the decent thing.” But, she added, “They won’t say that.”
The Democrats had options during the last election cycle. Choices have consequences, and the ensuing consequences will be as entertaining and full of pathos as anything seen on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
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