When Vice President-elect Kamala Harris (how good does that sound?) is sworn in as the next Vice President on January 20, her Senate seat becomes vacant, to be filled by California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Fortunately for Newsom, he has an embarrassment of riches in terms of candidates to choose from, including two highly qualified Latino Californians, Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Secretary of State Alex Padilla. California has never had a Latino Senator, and both candidates are well-known statewide with legislative experience, Becerra being a former Congressman and Padilla a former state senator.
It's also possible that Newsome will pick an African-American candidate like the formidable Rep. Karen Bass, who once served as the California General Assembly's Speaker, and who recently was head of the Congressional Black Caucus. Progressive champion Rep. Katie Porter may also be on the short list.
Gov. Newsom has an unenviable task, so we hope he gets broad buy-in before making the selection. In any event, whomever his choice is to fill the Senate seat of Vice President-elect Harris (that nice sound again), they'll be standing for election in 2022, and may well face a primary challenge from the candidates Newsom didn't pick. Such is politics.
(Postscript: After her weak performances during the Supreme Court hearings for Brett "KavaNo" Kavanaugh and Amy Coney "Coathanger" Barrett, it would be nice if the increasingly out of touch Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 86, who has four more years in her current term, would step aside to make room for one of many talented Californians, but she considers herself "Senator-for-life")
(photo: Harris campaigning for Newsom in 2018. Patrick Fallon / Bloomberg via Getty)
