California Governor Gavin Newsom

Following the recent death of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, there has been intense speculation about how her replacement would be chosen, and who it would be. Now we have the answer: California Governor Gavin Newsom‘s office announced Sunday night that the Governor has chosen Emily’s List President and former Service Employees International Union (SEIU) leader Laphonza Butler to represent the state in the U.S. Senate, on an interim basis until California’s voters choose a new Senator in the 2024 elections.

In making this choice, Governor Newsom was in the spotlight as much as, or possibly even more than, anyone else. That’s because not only is California the most populous and arguably most high-profile state in the U.S., it’s also no secret that Governor Newsom has presidential ambitions, presumably for 2028. Thus, Newsom had to tread carefully in making his U.S. Senate appointment.

While Sen. Feinstein’s death was sudden, there has been talk about her age (90) and visible physical and cognitive decline for months. For example, earlier this year, Feinstein was absent from the Senate for weeks with shingles and other infirmities. During that time, her empty seat on the all-important Senate Judiciary Committee caused a deadlock between Democrats and Republicans, resulting in several of President Joe Biden‘s federal judicial nominees being blocked from advancing to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.

Meanwhile, during these months of discussions about Sen. Feinstein’s condition and amid requests that she retire right away, Governor Newsom obviously thought and talked about what would happen if she leaves the Senate before her term expires (Feinstein’s office had previously announced that she would not run for another new term in the 2024 elections). Then, early last month, Newsom publicly announced three principles regarding his actions should Feinstein’s seat prematurely become vacant:

–He would appoint a replacement Senator only an interim basis, until a new Senator is elected in the 2024 elections and seated in the new Congress, presumably in January 2025. The purpose is to give California voters, rather than Newsom himself, the power to choose their U.S. Senator for a full six-year term.

–He would appoint a black woman, noting that currently no black women serve in the U.S. Senate.

–He would not appoint anyone who had already announced their candidacy for the seat in 2024, in order not to tip the scales in favor of someone who would then be running with the advantage of incumbency. Accordingly, this rendered U.S. Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, as well as numerous others, ineligible for the interim seat, since each of them had previously announced that they are running for the seat for a full term in the 2024 elections.

Governor Newsom ended up keeping all three of his promises. This should reflect very well on him not only now as Governor, but also if he runs for president in the 2028 elections. Imagine, alternatively, if he had violated one or more of these principles: voters across the country could then attack him by asking, “if Newsom couldn’t keep this promise, how can we trust him to keep any presidential campaign promise?” In this sense, Newsom has cleared his first presidential hurdle — the fundamental requirement of credibility.

Photo by Office of the Governor of California, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/r5OBci