What Dianne Feinstein’s Death Means for California.
And elections perhaps even beyond 2024.
At the age of 90, California Senator Dianne Feinstein has passed away.
Michael R. Blood and Mary Clare Jalonick with the Associated Press write:
“U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, a centrist Democrat and champion of liberal causes who was elected to the Senate in 1992 and broke gender barriers throughout her long career in local and national politics, has died. She was 90.
Feinstein died on Thursday night at her home in Washington, D.C., her office said on Friday. Tributes poured in all day. Opening the Senate floor, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that “we lost a giant in the Senate.”…”
While I know Senator Feinstein will be deeply missed by her family, friends, and colleagues, I personally have no interest in eulogizing her. Frankly, I’m interested in what this means for the state of California, and what Governor Gavin Newsom is likely to do when it comes to appointing someone to — at least temporarily — take her place.
See, Newsom is in a tricky position. For months now, I and others who consider ourselves on the left have speculated that one reason why Feinstein’s fellow centrist Democrats were so invested in her staying in the Senate instead of…
