Global Courant 2023-05-26 04:06:07
If California Senator Dianne Feinstein leaves Congress before her term is up, she will not be replaced by Oprah Winfrey.
The media mogul’s spokeswoman on Thursday threw cold water at the idea that Winfrey could make a foray into politics, saying she “is not considering vacating the seat.”
Winfrey, who has never held public office, has repeatedly turned down requests to run for president. An endorsement from the talk show host stirs up markets, prompting millions of Americans to try new diets and turn books into overnight bestsellers.
The name of the Montecito resident had been floated in various media outlets as a possible replacement for Feinstein, who is weak after being hospitalized with shingles.
Feinstein, who turns 90 next month, was absent from Washington for ten weeks and has been using a wheelchair to get to committee hearings since his return to Capitol Hill. She is visibly thinner, with a droopy face and eyelid apparently caused by Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a side effect of shingles that is usually temporary.
Feinstein has vowed to serve out the remainder of her term, which ends in January 2025. Three members of the House of Representatives are vying for her seat on next year’s ballot: Representatives Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), Katie Porter (D-Irvine), and Barbara Lee (D-Oakland).
But her public health struggles have heightened concerns about whether the senior U.S. senator is fit to represent California’s 39 million residents. Her absence from the powerful Judiciary Committee resulted in a delay in confirming some of President Biden’s judicial nominees.
If Feinstein were to leave Congress before the November 2024 election, Governor Gavin Newsom could appoint a janitor to serve out the rest of the term. He would be under great pressure to immediately name a successor, as the Democrats have a razor-thin majority in the Senate.
Newsom has said he would nominate a black woman to a vacant Senate seat. When Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president and vacated her Senate seat in 2020, Newsom nominated Alex Padilla, who was then California’s secretary of state and became the state’s first Latino senator.
Times columnist George Skelton said in April it would be difficult for Newsom to fill a Senate opening, should one come, and tossed Winfrey’s name as a possibility — almost in jest.
Winfrey has dabbled in politics and is a trusted donor to the Democrats.
Last fall, she made headlines by endorsing Democrat John Fetterman in the hotly contested Pennsylvania Senate race. His Republican opponent, television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz, rose to fame as ‘America’s Doctor’ on her daily talk show.
