All eyes turn to Gavin Newsom as Dianne Feinstein death creates Senate vacancy

The news of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) death prompted immediate speculation about what will happen to her now vacant seat in the closely split Senate as Congress barrels toward a government shutdown.

The legendary lawmaker’s death leaves Democrats with a mere single-seat majority in the upper chamber of Congress, giving Republicans the ability to block any partisan efforts that lack the entire Democratic conference’s support. Whether Feinstein should remain in her coveted seat was the subject of intense national debate this year as concerns mounted about her advanced age and mental decline.

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Feinstein, who was 90, was adamant that she would not resign before the end of her term in 2024, describing being a senator as her “calling.” While she agreed to not seek reelection, setting up an expensive fight to replace her, the uncertainty around whether she could finish out the term placed Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) in an uncomfortable position.

Newsom vowed in 2021 that he would fill Feinstein’s seat, should she retire early, with a black woman after he appointed Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), a Hispanic male, to replace Vice President Kamala Harris in the chamber. He has also said he hopes to avoid weighing in on the race to replace Feinstein next year.

Public polling on the Senate race shows Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Katie Porter (D-CA) essentially tied for the top spot and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) not far behind, within the margin of error in most surveys. Also in the mix are baseball legend Steve Garvey, who is mulling a bid as a centrist Republican, and former tech executive Lexi Reese, a Democrat who raised an impressive $1 million in the second quarter of this year but is an unknown in the state.

Lee, a black woman, was one of Newsom’s front-runners to fill Harris’s seat, though the governor is hoping to avoid weighing in on the 2024 primary with his pick for Feinstein’s replacement. Lee has polled behind Schiff and Porter, so an appointment by Newsom would give her the benefit of incumbency in her primary race.

Newsom said earlier this year he would choose a caretaker to fill the seat temporarily in the event of a vacancy to avoid throwing next year’s contest to one candidate over another, though Lee called that decision “insulting.”

Following Feinstein’s death, the spotlight is back on the California governor, who is certain to face pressure to act quickly to fill the seat.

Some of the names he’s been reported to be considering include California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, and Angela Glover Blackwell, an Oakland-based civil rights attorney. Talk show legend Oprah Winfrey was also floated as a possibility, though she quickly dismissed the idea.

Newsom is widely believed to harbor national ambitions and has emerged as a top surrogate for President Joe Biden. How the pick plays into his own political future is also a likely consideration.

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Asked about the situation in an interview in May, Newsom said he was being bombarded by Californians giving him suggestions about whom to appoint to Feinstein’s seat.

“Emails, calls, texts, people stopping me — I mean, I’m not kidding,” Newsom said. “This is one of the biggest topics here. It was one of the biggest topics when I was in Alabama.”