Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) blasted Gavin Newsom’s Golden State after he refused to pick anyone running for Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat to finish her term if the 90-year-old can’t finish her term.
Newsom has publicly pledged in 2021 to elect a black woman to replace Feinstein if the ailing non-family member is forced to step down before January 2025.
But with Lee running in a tight, expensive and contentious Senate primary, Newsom changed his pledge in an interview with NBC’s “Meet The Press” Sunday.
“I don’t want to be involved in the lower level,” he said. “It is completely unfair to the Democrats who have worked so hard. Elementary school was only a few months away. I don’t want to shrink the balance.”
Lee responded with a statement saying he was “troubled” by Newsom’s statement.
“If the Governor intends to keep his promise and appoint a black woman to the Senate, the people of California deserve the best person for the job. Not an appointment,” he wrote.
California’s governor is eager to avoid a bitter California Democratic Senate primary battle. JOHN G MABANGLO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“The idea that a black woman should be appointed just as a caretaker to just check a box is insulting to the countless black women across this country who have led the Democratic Party to election after election,” she added.
“Black women deserve more than participation trophies. We need a seat at the table,” continued Lee, who has represented his Bay Area district since 1998.
While there are no black women currently serving in the Senate, there are three black men: Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Tim Scott (R-SC).
Barbara Lee, 77, has served in the House of Representatives since 1998. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Sipa USA
Only two black women have ever sat in the upper house: Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois and current Vice President Kamala Harris, a former senator from California.
Newsom’s spokesman, Anthony York, said Lee released “hypothesis upon hypothesis.”
“There is no vacancy for any US Senate seat, nor does the Governor expect there to be one,” York said. “Voters will have their say on who should replace Senator Feinstein when they go to the polls less than six months from now.”
Adam Schiff has proven to be a financial catalyst at the Senate level.AP
Katie Porter has aggressively sought the support of progressives such as Senator Elizabeth Warren.Getty Images
Lee will take on Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Katie Porter (D-Calif.) in the primary contest.
Under California’s system, the top two vote-getters in the primary advance to the general election, regardless of party. Back in 2016, the November showdown pitted Harris against Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.).
Meanwhile, Feinstein, who is older than a chocolate chip cookie, has sparked concerns about her ability to serve after a series of health scares and concussions.
Dianne Feinstein’s three-month absence from the Senate hampered her party’s efforts to speed up the confirmation of President Biden’s judicial pick. MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Dianne Feinstein said earlier this year that she would not run for Senate again.Getty Images
Last month, he was briefly hospitalized, then released from a San Francisco hospital after a fall with “no injuries.” He was also sidelined from February to May after complications from shingles.
Earlier this summer, an aide and colleague had to urge Feinstein to vote “yes” on the annual defense spending bill.
He is the longest-serving member of either house of Congress.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
