Who will replace Dianne Feinstein?

When Dianne Feinstein died Thursday night, she left not only a long legacy of public service, but 15 months remaining in her term.

Under California law, the governor appoints a successor if a U.S. senator dies or resigns while in office. Newsom, a Democrat, is virtually guaranteed to choose another Democrat, and probably very soon. Who could it be?

Newsom has promised to name a Black woman, but said he would choose a caretaker who would not run for the seat next year.  That would rule out Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, the only Black woman in the fierce race with Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, and Rep. Katie Porter, D-Irvine, and others heading into the primary in March.

Here are some of the people who have been mentioned as potential successors for Newsom to appoint to Feinstein’s seat:

1) Shirley Weber

Newsom has already turned to Shirley Weber to fill an appointment in the past and she is viewed by many political observers as the most likely choice for Feinstein’s seat. Newsom chose her in 2021 as Secretary of State to fill a vacancy left when the governor named Alex Padilla to replace Kamala Harris in the U.S. Senate after she was elected vice president.

Weber, 75, the daughter of Arkansas sharecroppers, earned a PhD in communications from UCLA. She worked as a professor at San Diego State University, then was elected to four terms in the California Assembly representing San Diego. She also led the California Legislative Black Caucus.

Last November, Weber was re-elected for a full term as Secretary of State, which oversees state elections, business filings, lobbying and campaign spending reports, state archives and other issues.

2) London Breed

London Breed is currently the most high-profile potential successor, having served as the mayor of San Francisco since 2018.

Breed, 49, grew up in public housing in San Francisco’s Western Addition neighborhood, and earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of San Francisco in 2012. She worked in the Office of Housing and Neighborhood Services for former Mayor Willie Brown, then became the executive director of the African American Art & Culture Complex, and was named to the city’s redevelopment commission.

She ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2012, became its president, and then became acting mayor of San Francisco when former Mayor Ed Lee died in 2017. During her time in office, she has been seen as an advocate for more transit funding and housing construction .

But she has come under increasing criticism for homeless encampments, retail crime, auto break-ins and the decision of several major businesses to leave the city in recent years. This week, Daniel Lurie, a Democratic philanthropist and heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, announced he would challenge her for re-election next year, promising to hire more police and clean up encampments.

3) Holly Mitchell

A member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors who represents downtown Los Angeles, Carson, Compton, Inglewood, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach, Mitchell, 59, has served in state and local politics for more than a decade. Most recently, she was a state senator representing Los Angeles from 2013 to 2020. Before that, she was a state assemblywoman from Los Angeles.

After graduating from the University of California-Riverside with a degree in political science, she went to work for former State Sen. Diane Watson. Mitchell also worked as the CEO of Crystal Stairs, a non-profit organization that advocates for child care and education programs.

During her time in office, she has advocated for increased funding for homeless services and the poor, a ban on urban oil drilling in Los Angeles, and led efforts to pass a state law prohibiting racial discrimination or dress codes in schools or employment based on hairstyles such as braids, corn rows or afros.

4) Karen Bass

Karen Bass is the current mayor of Los Angeles. She was elected last November, defeating developer Rick Caruso.

Bass, 69, had served in the U.S. House of Representatives before that from 2011 to 2022, becoming chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

A former physician’s assistant in Los Angeles who became involved in non-profit groups seeking to improve health care and reduce crime, she ran for state Assembly and was elected in 2004, eventually becoming speaker of the Assembly.

During the 2020 presidential election she was mentioned as a potential running mate for Joe Biden.

Because Bass has been mayor of the nation’s second-largest city for less than a year, she is considered less likely to accept a 15-month term as interim U.S. senator.

Other names have been mentioned also, including Angela Glover Blackwell, an Oakland civil rights lawyer, and even billionaire media mogul Oprah Winfrey, a Montecito resident. In May, however, a representative for Winfrey told the Los Angeles Times that she “is not considering the seat should it become vacant.”