Feinstein Should Resign Now and Newsom Should Appoint Barbara Lee

I want Katie Porter to win election to the seat currently held by Senator Dianne Feinstein. However, we cannot wait until the 2024 election for Senator Feinstein to get out of the way of the progress that can be made if she were present in the Senate. She needs to resign so that a competent person can replace her. 

If Feinstein were to resign, Governor Gavin Newsom would appoint her successor. There is only one person to consider for the appointment, and that person is Representative Barbara Lee. 

The appointment would give Lee the advantage of incumbency, but it would also fulfill Newsom's comment in 2021 that he would replace Senator Feinstein with a Black woman if she were to retire before the end of her term. Though his comment suggests identity politics over merit, Barbara Lee is as historic a figure in Congress as anyone, and way more so than most. She is highly qualified to replace the aged and forgetful Senator who is currently not present to fulfill her duties.

I don't know how that will affect Katie Porter's run for the seat in the upcoming primary. She is the only progressive candidate in the field. I will be supporting her candidacy in the upcoming primary. In addition to Barbara Lee, Democratic party favorite Adam Schiff has also announced his candidacy. California has an open primary system in which the top two move on to the general election. Porter will need to get more votes than either Lee or Schiff in order to move on the general election to face one or the other. As I see it, this is a top two race among these three candidates in the primary.

There is simply too much time left between now and the 2024 election for Senator Feinstein to recklessly fail in her duties to represent the people of California. It would be one thing for her to serve out her term, and it is another thing to hold the seat and not fulfill her duties. The Democrats need that seat in the Senate to be filled and not just held. 

It is time for the old folks in the party to get out of the way of the young people in the party. Even though it is difficult to imagine replacing the 89-year-old senator with a 76-year-old successor as a youth movement, Barbara Lee should be the obvious choice for a governor who promised to appoint a Black woman to the seat. We will have to concern ourselves about the primary during the primary season.