Ms. Lee, who’s running to replace Ms. Feinstein, criticized the governor for deciding not to appoint any candidates for the Senate seat in 2024 as a caretaker.
U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee is “troubled” by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to replace outgoing Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) with a caretaker if she resigns before the end of her term, the Democrat said on Sept. 10.
Ms. Lee, who’s running to replace the longtime senator, criticized the governor in a series of social media posts for reiterating his decision not to appoint any candidates running for the senator’s seat in 2024.
“I am troubled by the Governor’s remarks,” Ms. Lee said. “The idea that a Black woman should be appointed only as a caretaker to simply check a box is insulting to countless Black women across this country who have carried the Democratic Party to victory election after election.”
Ms. Feinstein announced in February her intention to retire at the end of her term on Jan. 3, 2025. Two years ago, Mr. Newsom said in an interview with MSNBC that he intended to nominate a black woman for the U.S. Senate if Ms. Feinstein resigned from the seat she has held since 1992.
“If the Governor intends to keep his promise and appoint a Black woman to the Senate, the people of California deserve the best possible person for that job. Not a token appointment. Black women deserve more than a participation trophy. We need a seat at the table,” Ms. Lee said in a thread of statements.
On Sept. 10, Mr. Newsom told Chuck Todd during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he would stick by his earlier pledge to fill the seat with a temporary appointment.
“I don’t want to make another appointment,” Mr. Newsom told Mr. Todd. “I don’t want to get involved in the primary. It would be completely unfair.”
The governor faced some backlash in 2021 after declining to choose a black woman to fill Kamala Harris’s Senate seat after she was elected as vice president. Instead, he chose his longtime ally Alex Padilla, who was serving as California secretary of state at the time.
