As tributes continue to pour in for the late California Senator Dianne Feinstein, many are left wondering who will fill her vacant seat.
Congressman Adam Schiff, Representative Katie Porter, and Representative Barbara Lee are all running for Feinstein’s seat. In 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom told MSNBC host Joy Reid he would name a Black woman to the Senate should Feinstein resign.
Is it possible that woman could be Vice President Kamala Harris?
Former KNX News anchor Dick Helton told L.A.’s Morning News he thought about it.
“What dynamics within the Democratic Party would make that happen if she decided to give up the vice presidency and take a senate seat once again?” he said. “She certainly knows the landscape of the United States Senate. That'd be interesting.”
He added that he believes Newsom already has a shortlist of possible candidates.
“I think he wants to make an African American female, the next United States senator from the State of California,” he said. “So, there are many women who are certainly qualified for the job and I think that he probably has a shortlist already. I'm sure he's had one for quite some time actually.”
Political strategist and retired USC professor Darry Sragow, however, believed it’s unlikely.
“The scenario…is certainly on the list of possibilities and people are talking about it,” he said. “My personal view is that it’s highly unlikely but maybe, right? Anything’s possible.”
Harris served in the United States Senate from 2017 through 2021. Like Feinstein, she rose to prominence in San Francisco politics, being elected as the city’s District Attorney in 2003.
In 2010, was elected as California’s Attorney General.
She was succeeded by former California Secretary of State Alex Padilla when she took office as Vice President.
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