California Senate race will prove whether Democrats care about diversity

Posted for: Rotorblade

By Steve Phillips

Steve Phillips is a San Francisco-based writer and podcast host.

Do California Democrats believe that representation matters, or do they just pretend to? We’re about to get our answer.

The death on Sept. 29 of longtime Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein opens up a racial and gender quagmire that is sure to bedevil Democrats for many months to come. Early this month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) appointed Laphonza Butler, a Black lesbian and president of Emily’s List, to the Senate at least until the upcoming special election (November 2024) to fill the remainder of Feinstein’s term. But that hardly settles the question of who Feinstein’s long-term successor will be. Two prominent Democratic members of Congress — Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff — had already launched candidacies for Feinstein’s seat in anticipation of her retirement. Rep. Barbara Lee joined the race shortly after Feinstein officially announced her retirement.

Time and again, it has been shown that Black women are the heart and soul of the Democratic Party. Democrats across the country agree that Black women are badly underrepresented in our nation’s leadership. Schiff and Porter are White; Lee is a Black woman. The right course is clear, isn’t it?

It would be, anyway, if the participants had the courage and principles to follow it: Schiff and Porter should step aside and reembrace their vital leadership roles in the House. And the rest of the state’s Democratic leaders should walk their talk and throw their clout behind Lee’s bid for the state’s full six-year seat in the Senate.

Why is electing a Black woman to the Senate in California a moral imperative?

Consider the numbers: Before becoming vice president in 2021, Kamala D. Harris was just the second Black woman ever to serve in the Senate, after Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D-Ill.) in the 1990s. With Butler’s appointment, that’s three Black women in more than two centuries.

Further, Democrats’ tributes to Feinstein’s life and legacy illustrate their belief in the importance of representation of marginalized groups in the country’s top deliberative bodies. California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis noted that Feinstein “broke marble ceilings for the rest of us” and “inspired women like me to leadership.” Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi — Feinstein’s fellow San Franciscan and herself a trailblazing woman in politics — said Feinstein’s “extraordinary career will continue to inspire countless young women and girls to pursue public service for generations to come.”

Another reason to choose Lee: Two-thirds of California residents identify as people of color. A partnership of Lee and Sen. Alex Padilla, who is Hispanic, would give powerful voice in Washington to their interests.

There’s something else, perhaps the most important thing, which is that she has proved to be an effective legislator who can work across the aisle on a variety of issues while maintaining her progressive values. She has worked with Republicans on matters of foreign policy and gun reform; her career is marked by unwavering and unapologetic support of police accountability, reparations, immigration reform and environmental justice — issues that are critical to Californians. Many politicians talk about courage, but Lee is the real deal.

California’s Democratic leaders have an opportunity to do more than pay lip service to their rhetoric around diversity. It wouldn’t hurt to remind them that Harris gave up one of California’s seats to serve the country. They need to know, and show, that forcing genuine equality isn’t easy or comfortable. It requires hard decisions, especially for White people who might have to disappoint their friends or sacrifice their egos and ambitions for the sake of the larger cause.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/16/california-newsom-senator-laphonza-butler/