Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) appointee to fill the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat will have the option to run for a full term in 2024.
Feinstein’s term was slated to end in 2024, and Newsom had long implied he was only searching for an interim replacement. However, Newsom’s office confirmed to the Washington Examiner that there will not be a “precondition” that this replacement is in the Senate only temporarily.
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The late senator was 90 when she died on Friday and had already announced she did not have plans to run for reelection in 2024. As a result, Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Katie Porter (D-CA) announced they were running. Newsom claimed it would be “unfair” to name either of those three and suggested the position to replace Feinstein be temporary and not become a full-term candidate to make way for hardworking candidates. Now, however, the governor has seemingly changed his mind.
Newsom promised to appoint a black woman to the post. Vice President Kamala Harris was the state’s most recent black woman in the seat, but she gave it up to join President Joe Biden’s ticket. Lee is the only black woman in the running and has the backing of the Congressional Black Caucus.
An appointment is expected sometime midweek, about a week since Feinstein died. Newsom called Feinstein “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” in a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, following her death.
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Lee is a six-term representative, representing California’s 12th District (formerly 9th and 13th) since 1998. She had one Democratic candidate primary her in 2022 but swept the party’s nomination and then the general election by over an 87% vote.
Some 19 Democratic House members have endorsed Lee in her bid for the Senate. She has not nabbed the support of fellow Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who served as speaker of the House and instead endorsed Schiff shortly after he announced.
