Whom Should Newsom Appoint?

The editors of the Wall Street Journal comment on a diktat issued to California Gov. Scott Newsom by BLM:

Identity politics was a debacle for Democrats on Nov. 3, not least in California where voters defeated a constitutional amendment to allow racial preferences in schools and government. But don’t tell that to Black Lives Matter, which has delivered its new orders to Gov. Gavin Newsom: “He Must Appoint a Black Woman to the Senate.”

The internet message to supporters says that, with Kamala Harris leaving to be Vice President, the Senate will soon have no black women. They recommend Reps. Karen Bass or Barbara Lee. South Carolina’s Tim Scott is a black Republican man, who doesn’t count in BLM world.

Let’s see what Mr. Newsom does. He has presidential ambitions and rarely bucks progressive interest groups. On the other hand, the vote against racial preferences was 57.1%-42.9%, and the measure lost in 52 of 58 counties.

I don’t live in California so it’s none of my business but were I Gov. Newsom I would appoint California state senator-elect Monique Limón to the job. She appears to be a rising star in California politics.

If you contend that to represent people in the Congress you must be a member of the group to which they belong (I would not make that claim but it is an article of faith among some), a Hispanic U. S. senator in California is long overdue. Half of California’s population is Hispanic; 6% of California’s population is black. BLM is not demanding representation; they are demanding over-representation while a group more important to California’s politics remains underrepresented.