Gavin Newsom Could Pick Harris Stand-In

VIce Presidential Candidate Kamala Harrris Speaks to supporters at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles, California on September 23, 2019. (Maxim Elramsisy / The Corsair)

Kamala Harris has served as a California Senator since 2017, but if elected as Vice President, she will have to vacate her seat. While the House of Representatives holds special elections whenever there is a vacancy, some states, including California, allow governors to appoint a temporary Senator until the next Congressional election.

California Governor Gavin Newsom is in charge of finding a replacement for Harris, the United States’ second Black female Senator. While Newsom has not confirmed his list of potential appointees, his top two rumored choices are California Secretary of State Alex Padilla and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, according to a CalMatters report from August.

Alex Padilla, Democrat, served in the California Senate from 2006 until 2014. His policies include supporting affirmative action, restoring voting rights for individuals on parole, and ensuring access to fair public education and healthcare.

Xavier Becerra, Democrat, spent most of his political career serving in the House of Representatives before becoming California Attorney General. Becerra advocates for accessible healthcare, criminal justice and police reform, and preserving the environment.

While Newsom’s approval rating has shot to new heights with his handling of the pandemic, he is still criticized for the way he has approached unhoused Californians and high living costs.

Several other people, including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, are rumored to be in consideration for the position.

While the practice of state governors filling Senate seats is common, critics see this as a direct violation of the 17th Amendment. Before the Amendment, which was ratified in 1913, most states elected their senators through state legislatures.

"The whole purpose of the 17th Amendment was that people should choose their senators directly," said former U.S. Senator and current president of the American Constitution Society Russ Feingold in an interview with The Intercept in August. “The goal was to broaden the role of the voter in the selection of senators. But instead, you often have one person getting to decide.”

The amendment establishes the right of the people to directly elect their Senators, but grants permission for governors to choose someone to fill an empty seat if it is vacated before the next election. Feingold said that, historically, temporarily appointed senators seldom served an entire two-year term in Congress. He says the 17th Amendment was put in place to avoid “backroom deal-making” in the Senate, and avoid giving too much power to one person in these decisions.

“It’s better for the people to choose,” Feingold said. “The people of California should choose.”

Critics argue that Newsom has the power to pick anyone he favors, with little question about his motivation. Garrett Epps, a law professor at the University of Baltimore, echoes Feingold’s belief that governor-decided appointments are unjust opportunities for individuals to join the Senate without the input of the general public.

“There was extraordinary popular mobilization [of the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment] because the Senate was such a cesspool of corruption," said Epps.

Regardless of fairness, Newsom will be in charge to appoint someone in Harris's place should she and former Vice President Joe Biden win the election. But in an interview with Fox 11 on November 1, Newsom said he has received many offers from people to fill the seat.

“The stress of having to choose between a lot of friends, to choose between quality candidates, and the fact that whoever you pick, there are going to be a lot of people who are going to be upset, disappointed, that it wasn’t this or that, I don’t even want to get my arms around that until I have the privilege of having to make that decision,” Newsom said. “We’ll see next week.”