https://www.thebaycitybeacon.com/politics/so-who-replaces-feinstein/article_f13f0dce-a253-11e7-abc8-07e61f5a12b0.html
So Who Replaces Feinstein?
Mike Ege; Commentary Sep 25, 2017
The Trump era places a once-beloved Democrat under new scrutiny.
Senator Dianne Feinstein has represented California since 1992, when she and colleague Barbara Boxer won both U.S. Senate seats in a special election. Halfway through her last term, Boxer announced that she would not seek re-election, and in 2017, Attorney General Kamala Harris was duly elected to replace her. Despite winning re-election in 2012 with the largest popular vote in Senate history, increasing progressive dissatisfaction with Feinstein, along with the growing perception that it’s “someone else’s turn” (Feinstein is now 84), have speculators asking the obvious question: should California’s senior U.S. Senator step down?
Speculators may be disappointed.
Adriel Hampton, a local “Berniecrat’ campaign consultant, recently circulated this missive:
…Feinstein has indicated she will run for reelection next year, and perhaps it’s simply that no elected wants to step up while she's still considering. However, it's clear to me after nearly 20 years of watching SF politics that she will not retire, that she will run, and that shortly after the next California Governor is sworn in, she will resign her new six-year term and that Governor will appoint a successor who will inherit the full term.
The epistle continues with an appeal for donations for a campaign to “define Feinstein's record in the Senate, and to support the best new Democratic or independent progressive candidate for California's second Senate seat. “
Whether this speculation is credible or not is beside the point. Populists, both Left and Right of Feinstein, upset with her policies on national security in particular, have sought to topple her for years. (Conversely, one might ask, though: who else could’ve stood up to the CIA in the current post-9/11 political climate?)
The Senator’s raison d’être has always been to reach for the center; the problem is that even the most mild-mannered among us now wonder if that’s possible when the sitting President is a blatant white supremacist with openly authoritarian tendencies. Feinstein’s recent conciliatory remarks about Trump in her own backyard have generated a backlash.
And so now, in Trump World, her base may be losing confidence in her. A recent UC Berkeley poll has her ratings slipping below Harris, and only 45 percent supporting her re-election. The problem, of course, is that the calculus changes once there’s a declared challenger. Any challenger to Feinstein will be judged not only on who they are, but why they’re running.
It’s no accident that Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), mentioned most often as a possible successor, qualified his interest in her seat with the caveat that he’d run only if she decided not to seek re-election.
It’s from the current or former Congressional delegation that you’d find most of the credible candidates to either challenge or succeed Feinstein. This year’s crop of former Big City Mayors all seem to be running for Governor, and none want to lose the Senator’s goodwill. State Senate President Kevin De Leon has also been mentioned, mainly due to his outrage over Feinstein’s Trump remarks. Trouble is, he’s fundraising for Lieutenant Governor, and may be interested in the Gubernatorial fray as well.
Still, the most promising Congressmembers may disappoint Progressives, whether on policy, the ability to win, or the willingness to challenge:
Jerry McNerney -- representing the 9th District which bridges the East Bay and Sacramento, McNerney is no stranger to insurgent campaigns, winning his first Congressional primary in 2004 by a hair as a write-in candidate. He lost the general, but then won the seat two years later. He’s been in the House ever since, surviving redistricting. His record on issues like supporting veterans and renewable energy, and opposing free trade, give the former defense engineer a populist appeal. But nobody’s talking about him running for Senate.