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Election Results HQ: The Check Engine Light Is Flashing for ‘Bidenomics’ UPDATE: Dem Reelected Ky. Governor UPDATE: Dems Hold Virginia Senate

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UPDATE 8:50 p.m. ET: The networks just called the Kentucky election. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear holds off GOP challenger Daniel Cameron.

UPDATE 9:15 p.m. ET: The networks have also called Ohio’s abortion rights referendum, which appears set to pass with about 57%. By the way, I’m watching election coverage on CNN (so you don’t have to) and, oh, they’re just so happy happy happy tonight.

UPDATE 10:05 p.m. ET: It appears Democrats will maintain control of the state Senate and, in fact, Republicans may lose control of the House of Delegates. In Mississippi, GOP Gov. Tate Reeves looks like he’ll defeat Democratic challenger Brandon Presley, second cousin of Elvis.

*** PREVIOUSLY (5:15 p.m. ET) ***

Tonight there will be election results in Kentucky, Virginia, New Jersey, Mississippi, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The most closely watched contest will be the governor’s race in Kentucky, where the Trump-backed Republican challenger, Attorney General Daniel Cameron, had a late poll surge and is now tied with Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. What could explain this huge change — Cameron has gained 15 points in a matter of weeks, according to the Emerson College poll — in a race that Beshear had been leading by double digits? My first guess would be the Gaza war, which probably doesn’t make a lot of real-world difference to Kentucky voters, but has sowed discord in Democratic Party ranks.

On the other hand, based on past experience, when you see a massive swing in the polls in such a race, the explanation is usually that the surging candidate got a huge boost from a TV ad blitz. A really effective attack ad, run in saturation, can destroy a vulnerable candidate, and my guess is that the GOP waited until October to unleash it’s hardest-hitting attack on Beshear, pouring in a few million dollars worth of ads that have tied the incumbent Democrat to Joe Biden’s disastrous policies.

Democrats have spent the past three days wringing their hands in anguish over the New York Times/Sienna College poll:

“I am concerned,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said in an interview. “I was concerned before these numbers. I am concerned by the inexplicable credibility that Donald Trump seems to have despite all of the indictments, the lies, the incredible wrongdoing.”
New York Times-Siena College polls found Biden trailing Trump in five of the six most competitive battleground states: Trump led Biden by 10 percentage points in Nevada, six in Georgia, five in Arizona and Michigan and four in Pennsylvania. Biden led Trump by two in Wisconsin. In 2020, Biden defeated Trump in all six of those states, though generally by very narrow margins.
Of particular concern to Biden allies are indications that his support among Black voters, who were critical to his victory in 2020, may be softening. . . .

(Hat-tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.) If black voters expected anything good from Joe Biden, they have been as disappointed as anyone else foolish enough to think “Bidenomics” would work. The basic truth is, good policy is good politics, and however much anyone may have hated Donald Trump personally, his economic policies were far better than Biden’s. So now the check engine light is flashing for Democrats, and they may be planning to rerun the “Torricelli Gambit” for 2024, but in the meantime, there will be election results tonight.

UPDATE 6:30 p.m. ET: Early results from Kentucky:

Daniel Cameron (R) ….. 5,415 (54.6%)
Andy Beshear (D) …….. 4,496 (45.4%)

Polls are still open in Western Kentucky (in the Central time zone) and these numbers represent just 1% of the expected total.

UPDATE 7:25 p.m. ET: Now 27% reporting from Kentucky:

Daniel Cameron (R) ….. 174,054 (43.4%)
Andy Beshear (D) …….. 227,201 (56.6%)

Doesn’t look good right now for Cameron.

UPDATE 7:45 p.m. ET: A ballot measure in Ohio would amend the state constitution to guarantee the legality of abortion:

YES ………. 125,686 (70.6%)
NO ……….. 52,409 (29.4%)

That’s with just 5% of the vote counted.

UPDATE 8 p.m. ET: The situation in Virginia is this: Republicans came into today’s election holding the House of Delegates with a four-seat margin, 52-48, while Democrats held the state Senate by a four-seat margin, 22-18. With Gov. Glenn Youngkin, GOP could consolidate their control by flipping the Senate and holding the House. So far, everything is still too close to call. Now 55% reporting from Kentucky:

Daniel Cameron (R) ….. 375,589 (46.9%)
Andy Beshear (D) …….. 424,213 (53.0%)

The Democrat incumbent maintains a 50,000-vote lead.

UPDATE 8:30 p.m. ET: Now 65% reporting from Kentucky:

Daniel Cameron (R) ….. 457,011 (48.0%)
Andy Beshear (D) …….. 495,398 (52.0%)

Beshear’s lead is now less than 40,000 votes.

With 22% of the vote on the Ohio abortion-rights referendum:

YES ………. 551,815 (63.4%)
NO ……….. 320,788 (36.6%)

UPDATE 8:40 p.m. ET: Remember Susanna “HotWifeExperience” Gibson, the Democratic candidate who got caught selling sexy videos on the Internet? Well, she’s currently leading her Republican opponent by about 150 votes with 66% of the vote counted in House District 57.



 

Maine Manhunt Ends as Authorities Find Body of Lewiston Massacre Gunman

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Surveillance video showed gunman at a bowling alley.

Robert R. Card II “was found dead Friday from a self-inflicted gunshot, ending an intensive two-day search that had the state on edge. . . . Card was found at 7:45 p.m. near the Androscoggin River . . . at a recycling center from which Card had been fired.” In addition to updating that information, I also wanted to clarify that the death toll was 18, and not 22, as originally reported — the inaccurate death count repeated here Wednesday (“Mass Murder in Maine: At Least 22 Killed, Dozens Wounded, Suspect at Large”). In breaking news situations like this, the early reports always have to be considered tentative. Twitter gets flooded with unsubstantiated claims, and even reputable news organizations get facts wrong (e.g., NBC News had the death toll at 22 Wednesday night).

This was what I wrote in an update on my Wednesday post:

Various sources are saying that Robert Card is twice divorced, that one of his ex-wives had a restraining order against him, and that he is a registered sex offender. I haven’t been able to find this information in actual news reports from reputable outlets, and with the “fog of war” factor in the immediate aftermath of an incident like this, one should be cautious about such things. But there are enough people saying this stuff on blogs and social media that I thought I’d share it, with the caveat that it’s not officially confirmed.

It turns out that the Internet sleuths had it wrong — the divorced Maine sex offender is Robert W. Card, not Robert R. Card II, but that’s the kind of mistake that often happens in such situations. So my warning about the “fog of war” factor was vindicated. Background on the gunman:

In an interview Thursday with The Daily Beast, Card’s sister-in-law said he has had acute mental health struggles over the past year. Card started wearing powerful hearing aids, but began hearing things like people “bashing” him, including at the bowling alley and Schemengees, and he would “get mad” when he was told the voices were just in his head, according to the interview.
Card graduated from Mount Ararat High School in Topsham in 2001. He studied engineering at the University of Maine from 2001 to 2004 but did not graduate.
He was licensed as an electrician’s helper from 2004 to 2006, with no disciplinary action on his record. It appears his father, Robert R. Card of Bowdoin, was a master electrician, licensed from 1998 to 2024.
A spokesman for the U.S. Army on Thursday confirmed Card’s military status. Bryce Dubee said Card’s rank in the Army Reserve is sergeant first class, and he is a petroleum supply specialist who enlisted in December 2002 and has not been deployed to combat zones.
Dubee said Card has received awards for his service, including the Army Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and Army Service Ribbon.
A former Army Reserve colleague of Card’s told CNN that Card is a skilled marksman and outdoorsman who was among the best shooters in his Army Reserve unit.
Military commanders in the Army Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment, said they observed Card acting erratically while the unit was training at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York. Card was taken to the Keller Army Community Hospital there.
Card was taken by police to be evaluated following erratic behavior in July, according to The Associated Press, which spoke to a U.S. official who asked to remain anonymous.
The police bulletin sent to law enforcement after Wednesday night’s shootings in Lewiston noted Card had been at a mental health facility for two weeks this summer, and he had reported “hearing voices and threats to shoot up” the military base. No information was provided about Card’s treatment or diagnosis.
Sagadahoc County court documents indicate Card has an 18-year-old son with a woman he divorced in 2007, with the couple having shared parental responsibilities and rights. The divorce was granted on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. . . .
An additional amendment to the divorce judgment in 2013 ordered “all weapons in either party’s home shall be under lock and key at all times during which they are not being used.”
Card’s criminal record in Maine shows one prior offense: A misdemeanor-level charge of operating under the influence in Topsham in 2007. He pleaded guilty, was sentenced to 48 hours in jail, and fined $500, which he paid.

Crazy People Are Dangerous.



 

Mass Murder in Maine: At Least 22 Killed, Dozens Wounded, Suspect at Large

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What is known so far via The Daily Mail (UK):

A massive manhunt is underway in Maine for an Army reserve firearms instructor who was sectioned this summer for mental health reasons, and is suspected of shooting dead 22 people on Wednesday night at multiple sites in Lewiston.
Robert Card, 40, from Bowdoin, Maine, was named by Maine state police as the a ‘person of interest’ in the shootings at a bowling alley, restaurant and Walmart distribution center.
He was sectioned after saying he was hearing voices, and threatening to shoot up his National Guard base in Saco, Maine.
Card was armed with an AR 15-style rifle with laser optics when he burst into the bowling alley at 7:15pm to begin his rampage.
He was driving a 2013 white Subaru: Eric Samson, sheriff of Androscoggin County, announced at 11:20pm that law enforcement officers have found the vehicle in Lisbon, about seven miles southeast of Lewiston – but Card was not inside.
Mike Sauschuck, a law enforcement spokesperson in Lewiston, said Card ‘is considered armed and dangerous.’ . . .
Lewiston city administrator has confirmed that 22 were dead, local councillor Robert McCarthy said, with 50-60 were injured. Maine’s hospitals said they were declaring a mass casualty event. The death toll, which could rise, is the largest from a mass shooting this year.
The three locations were Sparetime bowling alley; Schemengee’s bar and grill; and a Walmart distribution center – although a spokesman said that the shooting was not on the site itself.
McCarthy said he had been told that a children’s bowling party was taking place at Sparetime at the time. . . .

UPDATE: New York Post:

Robert Card, 40, was stationed out of Saco, Maine and reported “hearing voices” and threatened to shoot up the National Guard Base where he was stationed, the sources said.
Card, originally of Bowdoin, Maine, should be considered “armed and dangerous,” and was reportedly committed to a mental health facility over the summer and was released after a two-week stay, the sources added.

Why is it, when people start “hearing voices,” the advice they’re getting from these voices is never helpful? Like, the voices are never saying, “Have a beer, dude. Chill out a while. No biggie.”

UPDATE II: Various sources are saying that Robert Card is twice divorced, that one of his ex-wives had a restraining order against him, and that he is a registered sex offender. I haven’t been able to find this information in actual news reports from reputable outlets, and with the “fog of war” factor in the immediate aftermath of an incident like this, one should be cautious about such things. But there are enough people saying this stuff on blogs and social media that I thought I’d share it, with the caveat that it’s not officially confirmed. What is confirmed, at least to my satisfaction, is that this guy was daft, deranged, demented, berserk, bonkers, off his rocker, a few fries short of a Happy Meal and cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. And, of course,  Crazy People Are Dangerous.

UPDATE III: Y’know, it’s generally bad taste to try to score political points in the wake of an atrocity that has no obvious political point, but the gun-grabbers can’t resist, so it’s important to make this point:

It is clearly evident that Robert Card was what law-enforcement calls a “prohibited possessor.” In other words, he was violating existing law, and it is therefore foolish to suggest that some new gun-control law could have prevented this crime. But no one should expect logic or honest arguments from the enemies of the Second Amendment.



 

Detroit Police Say Anti-Semitism Not Motive in Synagogue Leader’s Murder

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Very important update on the case:

Detroit police said investigators have looked into several people of interest in the killing of Samantha Woll, the president of a Detroit synagogue. Woll was found stabbed to death outside her home on Saturday morning.
In a press conference on Monday, Detroit Police Chief James White declined to unveil the connection between Woll and the people of interest, declaring a prime suspect cannot be named at the time.
“We have to be very, very cautious as to what information we share,” White said. “There are very intricate details about this case that, if revealed, could really damage what we’re trying to accomplish. There are facts that are known only to our suspect.”
White also clarified evidence in Woll’s death indicates her killing was not a result of antisemitism. Detroit police said Woll went to a wedding Friday night and left at about 12:30 a.m. on Saturday. Her body was found at about 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, and police say there was no forced entry at Woll’s home in Lafayette Park, located east of downtown Detroit.
“We believe there are no other groups or anyone else at risk,” White said. “We believe that this incident was not motivated by antisemitism and that this suspect acted alone.”

Hmmmm. Notice what the Chief doesn’t say — nothing about robbery or sexual assault, which we might typically consider possible motives in such a crime. Revenge? A disgruntled ex-boyfriend? We understand the need to be “very, very cautious” in speaking about such an investigation, but ruling out anti-Semitism as a motive is important (a) because by the process of elimination, this means it’s not some random Jew-hater out there, and (b) this obviously helps reassure the community.

To repeat what I said Sunday:

We must not speculate or jump to conclusions. However, knowing what we know about Detroit, I’m willing to hazard a tentative guess that the killer was probably not a Trump supporter.

C’mon, man — It’s the east side of Detroit.



 

A Death in Detroit

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No suspect or motive has been identified yet:

Police in Detroit caution against speculation over the motive for the murder of a politically active leader of a local synagogue after she was found dead with stab wounds outside her home.
Police request FBI assistance in investigating the murder of Samantha Woll, 40, who presided over the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, which serves metropolitan Detroit.
Police Chief James White urges “that everyone remain patient” while the investigation is underway despite “many unanswered questions.”
“It is important that no conclusions be drawn until all of the available facts are reviewed,” White says in a statement. “An update… will be forthcoming tomorrow.”
The murder came amid escalating tensions in Jewish and Muslim communities across the United States over the Israel-Hamas war that has taken thousands of lives since the terror group led a deadly onslaught in southern Israel earlier this month.
Emergency personnel found Woll dead “with multiple stab wounds to her body,” police say. A trail of blood led officers to Woll’s nearby home, “which is where the crime is believed to have occurred.”
The motive in the killing “is unknown,” a police statement adds.
The Detroit office of the FBI tells AFP in an email that it “will assist the Detroit Police Department as requested.”
The Jewish Federation of Detroit says Jewish security officials have been in touch with law enforcement about the case.
“No evidence has been shared to indicate this was a targeted act motivated by antisemitism,” the federation says. “We are all eager to understand the circumstance’s of Samantha’s death.”
It also says “there are no known threats at this time.”

We must not speculate or jump to conclusions. However, knowing what we know about Detroit, I’m willing to hazard a tentative guess that the killer was probably not a Trump supporter.



 

Republicans Score ‘Major Victory’ as Trump-Backed Landry Wins in Louisiana

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WDSU-TV in New Orleans reports:

Attorney General Jeff Landry, a Republican backed by former President Donald Trump, has won the Louisiana governor’s race, holding off a crowded field of candidates. The win is a major victory for the GOP as they reclaim the governor’s mansion for the first time in eight years.

Louisiana has a so-called “jungle primary,” with all candidates from every party, and this usually results in a run-off to decide the election because no candidate gets a majority, but Landry got 52% to win outright. His nearest Democratic rival got 26%, while four other GOP candidates split 13% of the votes between them. In other words, this was at least a 2-to-1 GOP landslide. What do you think this suggests for 2024? Perhaps it’s merely a local election that signifies nothing as a nationwide trend, but we’ll wait and see what happens in Kentucky next month.



 

‘Building a Deeply Inclusive Culture’

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This year, Forbes named 26-year-old Pava Lapere to its prestigious “30 Under 30” business leaders. A graduate of Johns Hopkins University, LaPere co-founded a successful startup company, EcoMap Technologies, based in Baltimore. Lapere was recently praised by her colleagues:

“Pava was not only the visionary force behind EcoMap but was also a deeply compassionate and dedicated leader. Her untiring commitment to our company, to Baltimore, to amplifying the critical work of ecosystems across the country, and to building a deeply inclusive culture as a leader, friend, and partner set a standard . . .”

Perhaps you noticed the past tense verb, “was.” Because, did I mention — I’m pretty sure I did — that Lapere based her company in Baltimore, where the crime rate is worse than Chicago?

26-Year-Old Tech CEO Dead
Of Blunt Force Trauma —
Police Investigating Homicide

The cause of death was blunt force trauma and also, as it turned out, the kind of “inclusive culture” that makes Baltimore so dangerous.

The 26-year-old tech executive whose body was found on the rooftop of her Baltimore apartment building Monday died of strangulation and blunt force trauma, court documents say.
Pava LaPere was killed Friday [Sept. 22], but authorities didn’t discover her body for at least three days, according to a statement of charges filed in the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City obtained by CNN affiliate WJZ. Her body was found near a brick and a pair of red shoes believed to be LaPere’s, the documents say. The medical examiner’s office determined LaPere suffered trauma to the head, face and body, the documents say.
But even before the CEO was killed, the man suspected of killing her was being tracked by investigators because police believed he was responsible for a rape, arson and attempted murder days earlier, officials said.
The stunning revelations came hours after the suspect, Jason Dean Billingsley, was arrested Wednesday night — ending a frantic manhunt for the convicted sex offender who had a 30-year sentence but was released from prison last year. . . .
Baltimore police believe Billingsley is responsible for an arson, rape and attempted murder that happened September 19 in the 800 block of Edmondson Avenue — about a mile from where LaPere’s body was found days later.
Billingsley is accused of raping and attacking a woman before setting her and her boyfriend on fire, according to a statement of charges document filed in the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City and obtained by CNN affiliate WJZ.
“All indications are that this was not a random act of violence,” Baltimore Acting Police Commissioner Richard Worley said. “We have information to believe that the victims … were targeted by the suspect — that the suspect knew the victims and he went into that location for a criminal reason.”
Investigators started looking for Billingsley, police said.
Police believe three days after the September 19 crimes, LaPere was killed.
“It seems like she was probably murdered on Friday night, and she wasn’t recovered until they reported her missing … on Monday,” Worley said.
Authorities found her body Monday at an apartment building in the 300 block of West Franklin Street. Police said they don’t know of any connection between Billingsley and LaPere, the beloved CEO of EcoMap Technologies.
Billingsley was seen on video following LaPere on the street as she approached the building where she lived and worked, law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation told CNN.
The video shows the suspect following LaPere from a distance, but LaPere does not appear to be aware of his presence, according to the sources.
After LaPere entered the lobby where her company offices are located, she appeared to see Billingsley at the front door looking as though he had difficulty getting into the building — as if he had forgotten his keys, the sources said.
LaPere then opened the door for him, and security cameras in the lobby recorded them in conversation, according to the sources.
As LaPere walked toward the elevator, those security cameras show Billingsley following her.
The statement of charges said LaPere and Billingsley were seen on surveillance video getting into the elevator together.
LaPere was killed on the roof, the sources said, and Billingsley is recorded leaving the building about 40 minutes after following her into the elevator.
Billingsley is also seen on video leaving the stairwell of the building and entering the lobby, “scrambling for an exit,” according to the statement of charges. He was seen wiping his hand on his shorts before exiting the building, the court documents say.

So he was acting “as if he had forgotten his keys,” which convinced Johns Hopkins University graduate Pava Lapere to let the convicted sex offender — a fugitive suspect wanted on charges of rape, arson and attempted murder — into her building. Because it’s about a “building a deeply inclusive culture,” see? Virtue-signalling can get you killed.

Slain Baltimore tech CEO wanted
to disrupt industry’s ‘boys network’
Members of Baltimore’s tech scene say
Pava LaPere was committed to social justice.

“She wanted to disrupt the tech industry’s reigning power structure of white men and make way for more women and other people from disadvantaged groups. . . . She studied computer science for three years before switching her major to sociology because, she said, she wanted to use entrepreneurship to solve inequalities in society. . . . EcoMap has committed to a ’50/50%’ goal of employing a staff that is half women and half people of color.” And of course, she was a BLM supporter.

Standing against “systemic racism” is all fine and good, I suppose, up until the moment you die from blunt force trauma because a convicted sex offender, who was sentenced to 30 years, gets out of prison early under a “criminal justice reform” law that gave him “good time” credits:

Police said Billingsley was previously arrested in 2013, 2011, and 2009, and accused of multiple crimes, including sex offense, second-degree assault, and robbery charges.
Records reviewed by Insider show that Billingsley was sentenced in 2015 to 30 years in prison with 16 years suspended after he pleaded guilty to a first-degree sex offense. He is listed on the Maryland sex offender registry as a “tier 3” offender — the most serious classification — and those records show he was released from prison on October 5, 2022.
Bates said that Billingsley had a “violent crime” conviction in 2011 that included a charge of attempted rape and said Billingsley was paroled in October 2022. . . .
However, The Baltimore Banner reported that Maryland Parole Commission Chair David Blumberg said that Billingsley was actually denied parole and instead released on what was described as good-time credits.
A Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services spokesperson told The New York Times that Billingsley was not paroled but released “on mandatory supervision as required by statute.”

The Daily Mail interviewed the victim of Jason Billingsley’s 2013 crime, and you can read her account and decide for yourself if a mere nine years behind bars was sufficient in that case. Liberals have spent years proclaiming that America has a “mass incarceration” problem, demanding that we “defund the police” and stop putting criminals behind bars. Maryland being a Democrat-controlled state (Joe Biden got 65% of the vote in Maryland, including 87% in Baltimore), these kinds of “criminal justice” reforms have been avidly pursued. For example, employers in Maryland are not allowed “to inquire into an applicant’s criminal history” under the state’s so-called “ban-the-box” law.

Here’s the real kicker, though: After Billingsley committed rape, arson and attempted murder on Sept. 19 — three days before Pava Lapere was killed — police immediately identified him as the suspect, but didn’t warn the public that this violent felon was at large, because “this was not a random act of violence . . . the suspect knew the victims.” It was not until after Lapere’s murder that police determined Billingsley “had committed an act that seemed to be random,” which justified going public with the identity of the suspect. Does that make sense?

Think about “social justice,” and then think about Baltimore.

Do you have any idea how many convicted felons, suspects wanted for violent crimes, are at large in Baltimore? It’s not a small number. So if Baltimore police went public, issuing BOLO (“be on the lookout”) alerts every time they identified a suspect in a case, the local TV news would be running mug shots 24/7. And such publicity probably would not help encourage “building an inclusive culture,” IYKWIMAITYD.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers!



 

De Mortuis Nil Nisi Bonum

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The Democratic Party tradition of dying in office can be traced to Franklin Delano Roosevelt who, in 1940, chose to seek reelection for a third term, breaking the two-term precedent set by George Washington. Then in 1944, FDR had the excuse of World War II to seek a fourth term in the White House, even though at that point it was clear that he probably didn’t have much longer to live. True, there have been Republicans who emulated FDR’s example, but in general it’s Democrats who cling to office until they join the choir invisible. We should not therefore use the occasion of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s death to criticize her for staying in the Senate long past the point where she was capable of discharging the duties of her office. She was a Democrat, and that’s what Democrats always do, if they can. In the one-party state that is the People’s Republic of California, there was never a chance that Feinstein could have lost to a Republican. The only question now is, which Democrat will succeed her to become the state’s next Senator-for-life.

Heh heh heh heh. Whatever Governor Hairgel does, identity politics is certain to turn the fight for Feinstein’s seat into intra-party warfare.

As I explained a few months ago, it was already rumored that Feinstein, who would have been up for reelection in 2024, would instead retire. Young “progressive” firebrand Rep. Katie Porter was the first to throw her hat in the ring, but black Democrats in California believed they were entitled to Feinstein’s seat. Now the price has come due:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s death Friday puts enormous political pressure on Gov. Gavin Newsom to pick a successor acceptable to Black Democrats, who are already furious at him for his ideas about a replacement.
After replacing Sen. Kamala Harris, the Senate’s only Black woman, with Sen. Alex Padilla in 2021, Newsom told MSNBC’s Joy Reid that if he had to appoint someone else to the Senate, it would be a Black woman.
Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, who’s running for Feinstein’s seat next year, would appear to be a logical choice. But Newsom last month said he would name a Black woman on an interim basis to complete Feinstein’s term, which ends in January 2025.
He spoke about his decision on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where moderator Chuck Todd said, “it would be essentially a caretaker—an African American woman?”
Newsom replied, “We hope we never have to make this decision, but I abide by what I’ve said very publicly on a consistent basis. Yes.”
He explained that choosing one of the Democrats running for the full term — Reps. Adam Schiff and Katie Porter are also candidiates — “would be completely unfair to the Democrats that have worked their tail off. That primary is just a matter of months away. I don’t want to tip the balance of that.”
That ignited a political firestorm, as Lee and others protested. “The idea that a Black woman should be appointed only as a caretaker to simply check a box is insulting to countless Black women across this country who have carried the Democratic Party to victory election after election,” she tweeted shortly after Newsom made his comments.

So now we get Adam Schiff and Katie Porter in a racial mud-wrestling match with Barbara Lee, in a state where 40% of the population is Hispanic. Thank you for your excellent timing, Senator Feinstein!