JTA — Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom easily escaped a recall election Tuesday, eliminating the possibility that a right-wing Republican could take over as the state’s top executive.
But one effect of the grueling political battle appears likely to endure: an inquiry into whether America’s first Jewish female senator is still fit to serve.
Diane Feinstein’s name was not on the ballot, but in some ways the election was about who would replace her.
Feinstein is 88 years old and, according to some reports, is becoming increasingly frail. His current term is till 2024, but if he is unable to complete it, the state governor will replace him.
This made the recall mechanism an attractive tool for Republicans who want to see the currently divided Senate swing under Republican control.
California law gives citizens the right to recall their governors—and mandates that the top vote-getter in a simultaneous election be the replacement if a majority of voters recall back.
California Governor Gavin Newsom gives an update on the state’s initiatives to provide housing to homeless Californians to help prevent the coronavirus, in Pittsburgh, Calif., on June 30, 2020. (Rich Pedroncelli / AP)
There were dozens of candidates on the ballot Tuesday, but many Republicans threw their efforts behind Larry Elder, a talk radio host who supports former United States President Donald Trump.
He is far more conservative than any Republican governor that California voters have chosen in the past, and the election was seen as an indicator of how responsive Californians are to Trump-style politicians.
As of Wednesday morning, Elder had received nearly half the vote, far more than any other candidate, but his campaign was thwarted when it became clear that Democrats across the state needed to halt the recall effort. Came out in large numbers.
Republican conservative radio show host Larry Elder speaks to supporters after losing the California gubernatorial recall election on September 14, 2021 in Costa Mesa, Calif. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The result removes any risk that Democrats could pressure Feinstein to step down immediately, as might be the case if Newsom was recalled and given only 30 more days in office.
Still, the episode stirs bets around persistent questions about his ability to continue serving, which escalated last year when he raised high-profile questions about regulating social media companies and upholding Supreme Court justices. During the profile hearing, several wrong steps were taken.
Even some of her friends and former employees say that her short-term memory has deteriorated so much that she cannot do her job effectively, According For a 2020 article in the New Yorker.
Feinstein – who was born in San Francisco as the granddaughter of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe and, like Newsom, the former mayor of that city – is hardly the oldest senator to serve. The distinction went to Republican Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who was 100 when he completed his last term in 2003. (He died six months later.)
But Feinstein became the country’s first Jewish woman to serve in the Senate in 1992, when she filled a vacancy shortly after being elected. (Barbara Boxer, also from California and victorious in the same election, became the second Jewish woman in the Senate weeks later when her term began on a regular schedule.) Feinstein’s current term runs until 2024, when she will be 91 years old.
Diane Feinstein, D-California, speaks at the 2018 California Democrats State Convention on Saturday, February 24, 2018 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Dennis Poroy)
After last fall’s elections, Feinstein stepped down as the top Democrat on the prestigious Senate Judiciary Committee for criticism he received in his party for handling Justice Amy Connie Barrett’s hearing.
The boxer asked Feinstein to consider retirement in a Los Angeles Times interview earlier this month.
“If Sen. Feinstein called me today and asked for my advice, I would say that only you can decide,” she said. “But from my point of view, I want you to know that I’ve had very productive years working well from the Senate. So put that into the equation.”