Yeah, the thing is that this is politically touchy stuff for the governor. Newsom already promised that if an appointment came open, he’d pick a Black woman. This was a defensive response to having appointed Alex Padilla to replace Kamala Harris for the last opening. But that was before Feinstein officially bowed out of another election cycle. Now the very black woman that would have been the most obvious appointment pick, Barbara Lee, is openly running to succeed Feinstein. Which means if Newsom appoints her she automatically gets the incumbency advantage in the next election, something neither declared candidates Katie Porter or Adam Schiff want.
But Newsom cannot safely back off that pledge without taking political damage. Which means he is between a rock and a hard place. He can try and appoint someone like Karen Bass or Maxine Waters in the hope they play caretaker. But many Black leaders in CA have already lined up behind Lee and they and Lee’s people will cry foul. Newsom is apparently already under a lot of pressure to endorse Lee outright over Porter and Schiff given his previous promise. He can appoint Lee, but then have Schiff and Porter screaming up his ass. Newsom is likely desperately hoping Feinstein holds on until the end of her term to save him from the fallout.