Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s weeks-long absence from Washington as she recuperates from shingles not only led to calls for her retirement, it refocused attention on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s promise to appoint a Black woman if either of California’s U.S. Senate seats opened up.
While Feinstein on Wednesday vowed to return to the Capitol before retiring at the end of her term in early 2025, Black leaders in California wonder if the governor’s sincerity remains. Stirring those doubts: Newsom has been silent about whom he supports in the state’s 2024 Senate race to succeed Feinstein, even though the field includes just one formidable Black woman candidate: Democrat Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland.
“Making good on a commitment is a serious thing to the most critical base of Democratic Party voters,” said Aimee Allison, founder and president of She the People, an advocacy group pushing for more women of color to hold elected office. “The governor could complicate his legacy and push Black women, who in this state are a significant and critical voting bloc, to view him skeptically as someone who’s unwilling to support us when it counts.”
