CALIFORNIA — Even before the presidential election was called for Joe Biden by the Associated Press and other outlets, the jockeying had already begun to replace his running mate’s seat in the U.S. Senate. Presuming Biden is sworn into office in January, with Kamala Harris as his vice president, “the lobbying that has taken place for the better part of a year goes into overdrive,” said Occidental College professor and political analyst, Caroline Heldman.
That lobbying is directed toward California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will appoint Harris’s replacement through 2022 when her Senate term would have ended.
“Governor Newsom has pressure to replace Kamala Harris with a person of color, perhaps with a woman of color because descriptive representation is so important,” Heldman said. “But he also has pressure to put someone in who is going to vote to get rid of the filibuster, which just requires a majority vote in the Senate, so both of those would be on his consideration list.”
Among the possible candidates: Progressive African-American U.S. Congresswomen Karen Bass of Los Angeles and Barbara Lee representing the Bay Area, as well as Latinx politicians including California Secretary of State Alex Padilla and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia.
“At the end of the day, we really do need to have a minority because the Senate is still not reflective of our nation,” Barbara Boxer told Spectrum News 1 in August when Harris was first announced as Biden’s running mate, raising the issue of who might fill her seat.
Boxer was Harris’s predecessor in the Senate, serving for 24 years before retiring in 2016. Dianne Feinstein has served as California’s other U.S. Senator since 1992. Together, they have established a long precedent of female leadership from the state in Congress. Roughly a quarter of the seats in Congress are currently held by women.
While Boxer said it would be “fabulous” if another female were selected, she said “there are all kinds of things that go into it. There may be a male candidate that for some reason just brings more to the table, so I don’t think that Governor Newsom should narrow it to that degree.”
According to the Pew Research Center, 22% of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate are racial or ethnic minorities, even though nonwhites account for 39% of the country’s population.
While Black and Native American representation in the House of Representatives is roughly equal to their share of the population, Hispanics account for 18% of the population but hold just 9% of the seats, and Asians, who account for 6% of the population, hold just 3%.
Just nine of the country’s 100 senators are a racial or ethnic minority: four are Hispanic, three are Asian and three are black. California has never had a Latinx senator.
Harris is the second African-American and first South Asian-American Senator representing California. With a Biden presidency, she would be the first woman and first person of color to serve as the country’s vice president.
“It would be good to replace her with someone who represents the incredible diversity of California,” said Heldman, adding that “there is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the political talent in California.”
Karen Bass, who had been on Biden’s short list of vice presidential contenders, is among the frontrunners to replace Harris. The 67-year-old head of the Congressional Black Caucus, she is a five-term Congresswoman who has long promoted police reform.
Alex Padilla, 47, has served as California’s Secretary of State since 2015. A former California Senator, Los Angeles City Councilman and self-described problem solver, “he is committed to modernizing the office, increasing voter registration and participation, and strengthening voting rights,” according to his biography on the Secretary of State website.
Robert Garcia, 42, is serving his second term as mayor of Long Beach. “Committed to moving Long Beach forward by attracting tech and green jobs, creating new educational partnerships, and making government more efficient,” according to the city’s website, he won almost 80% of the vote in 2018. Born in Peru and raised in Southern California since the age of five, he recently lost both of his parents to COVID and is also openly gay.
“Governor Newsom has long been an advocate of LGBTQ+ rights,” said Heldman, noting that Toni Atkins, a lesbian who heads the California State Senate, could also be in the running for Harris's seat.
The question is when Newsom will announce his selection.
“The sooner he makes the announcement, the more it solidifies the presidential race is over,” Heldman said, especially with Trump’s attempts to delegitimize the election. “The sooner we can get to business as usual in terms of our democratic processes and procedures the better.”