If California Sen. Dianne Feinstein leaves Congress earlier than her time period is over, she received’t get replaced by Oprah Winfrey.
The media mogul’s spokeswoman on Thursday threw chilly water on the concept that Winfrey may make a foray into politics, saying she “is just not contemplating the seat ought to it develop into vacant.”
Winfrey, who has by no means held public workplace, has repeatedly turned down appeals to run for president. An endorsement from the discuss present host strikes markets, pushing hundreds of thousands of People to strive new diets and turning books into bestsellers in a single day.
The Montecito resident’s identify had been floated in a number of media shops as a attainable substitute for Feinstein, who’s frail after being hospitalized with shingles.
The Democratic senator, who turns 90 subsequent month, was absent from Washington for 10 weeks and has been utilizing a wheelchair to get to committee hearings since returning to Capitol Hill. She is visibly thinner, with drooping in her face and eyelid that’s apparently brought on by Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a facet impact of shingles that’s normally non permanent.
Feinstein has vowed to serve out the remainder of her time period, which ends in January 2025. Three members of the Home of Representatives are competing for her seat on subsequent 12 months’s poll: Reps. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), Katie Porter (D-Irvine) and Barbara Lee (D-Oakland).
However her very public well being struggles have amplified considerations about whether or not the oldest U.S. senator is match to signify California’s 39 million residents. Her absence from the highly effective Judiciary Committee resulted in a delay in confirming a few of President Biden’s judicial nominees.
If Feinstein left Congress earlier than the November 2024 election, Gov. Gavin Newsom may appoint a caretaker to serve out the rest of the time period. He can be below intense strain to call a successor instantly, as a result of Democrats have a razor-thin majority within the Senate.
Newsom has mentioned that he would appoint a Black lady to a vacant Senate seat. When Kamala Harris was sworn in as vp and vacated her Senate seat in 2020, Newsom appointed Alex Padilla, who was then California’s secretary of state and have become the state’s first Latino senator.
Instances columnist George Skelton in April mentioned it might be troublesome for Newsom to fill a Senate opening, ought to one come up, and tossed out Winfrey’s identify as a chance — virtually in jest. Since then, the concept of Newsom appointing Winfrey has been mentioned by a couple of information shops, together with a Gail Collins column within the New York Instances.
Winfrey has dabbled in politics and is a dependable donor to Democrats.
Final fall, she made headlines by endorsing Democrat John Fetterman within the hotly contested Pennsylvania Senate race. His Republican opponent, tv character Dr. Mehmet Oz, soared to stardom as “America’s Physician” on her day by day discuss present.
