Oprah For Senate?: Newson Adds Media Mogul To List Of Potential Senate Candidates

Reports of Media Mogul and former talk show host Oprah Winfrey joining the list of potential Senate candidates should Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) resign surfaced on Tuesday, with many sources confirming that Governor Gavin Newsom had floated her name as a potential pick.

Newsom’s potential Senate candidates dates back to December 2020. That month, then-Senator Kamala Harris, who was elected Vice President, was expected to move out of the position soon, with all eyes on Gov. Newsom for his interim Senate pick to fill out her term. While many expected he would choose a black woman, Newsom ultimately chose California Secretary of State Alex Padilla. While the pick was controversial due to Padilla’s closeness to the Governor, as well as his political and personal track record as “One of the worst election officials in the nation,” Padilla was also praised by some as the first Latino Senator in California history.

However, many black groups quickly attacked the choice, noting that Newsom had just removed the only black woman from the Senate. Newsom, in kind, quickly said that should Feinstein’s seat open up, he would pick a black woman to replace her to fill out the term. Then-Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-CA) and San Francisco Mayor London Breed accused Newsom of contributing to the lack of representation for African-American women in Congress.

A shortlist soon came out in 2021, with expected Senate replacements, and then-Congresswoman Karen Bass topping out the list, followed by Breed, Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, and others including Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA). For the last two years, the outrage died down, especially since Lee is now squaring off against fellow Congressional members Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Katie Porter (D-CA), as well as against lawyer Eric Early (R).

However, the question of a pick roared right back last month when calls for Senator Feinstein to resign grew amid her controversially staying home in San Francisco to recover from shingles and leaving her Senate work undone. Even though she did get back to Washington earlier this month, reports of her illness being far worse than what was said before and polls showing that the majority of Californians wanted her out of office kept up the resignation calls throughout the month.

For Gavin Newsom, the brewing Senate race has greatly limited who he could possibly pick as interim Senator to fill out Feinstein’s term should she retire. While California has several qualified black women for the position, potential candidates such as Lee are out as candidates due to the incumbency edge it could give them in the race. Bass, who just became Mayor of Los Angeles, has said she would not take the position, with Mitchell also stating she wouldn’t, instead wanting to focus on running again for Supervisor.

Oprah for Senate?

Breed, Weber, and Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA), who was seen as the heir apparent to Feinstein’s seat only a few years prior and helped lead the resignation fight against Feinstein, are all seen as the current top candidates. However, with Newsom not wanting to chance giving someone the position only for them to announce a 2024 campaign and completely upend the Senate race, he has instead been looking at outside candidates. This led to him consider Winfrey this week.

While Winfrey has been floated as a possibly candidate before, including in the 2020 Presidential election, she has not run for public office, instead being the CEO and Chairwoman for media companies. As of Tuesday, Winfrey has not commented on possibly being a caretaker Senator, with Feinstein staying adamant that she will serve out the rest of her term until 2025.

“Breed and Weber are probably the top two candidates right now,” Washington-based election advisor Stan Taney told the Globe Tuesday. “But Breed has significant baggage in San Francisco and is pretty unpopular right now. And Weber has a lot of questions over her tenure as Secretary of State. Also, there is no guarantee that either would promise to only serve out the rest of Feinstein’s term and not run in 2024.”

“For Newsom, he wants somebody to serve as caretaker only should the need arise. Feinstein is up there in age, is in bad health, and has a lot of people against her right now. She could be out tomorrow. And, to top it off, he put himself in a corner after promising a female black Senator should Feinstein go. There’s only so many who are qualified in California.”

“Winfrey has been known to be political and outspoken on issues, plus she is popular with many people. Lawmaker material? Eh, remains to be seen. But she is known, is liked, does know about many subjects, college grad, and would likely agree to only serve out the term. You really can’t call her the best candidate, but you can also do worse. If she is picked, it would make front page news. I mean, come on, Senator Oprah? I mean, there has been Governor Schwarzenegger, so this would be very on brand for California.”

“But, when you look at the entire landscape, Newsom needs a good pick. Someone who will only serve for a few years and not run in 2024, and someone who won’t embarrass him and hurt his chances for future office. Oprah is an interesting pick to say the least as a potential candidate, but you need to have a good list to choose from before picking the 69-year-old billionaire who once gave her entire audience free cars.”

Announcements by Newsom and Winfrey regarding being on the short-list for Senator are expected soon.