Five years ago, California voters blessed their senior U.S. senator with a decisive vote of confidence, sending the then 85-year-old Dianne Feinstein back to the nation’s capital for the sixth time instead of a much younger fellow Democrat.
But a poll out Thursday suggests that many of those voters have buyer’s remorse. The Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll found two out of three registered California voters surveyed say Feinstein, who missed months in the Senate this year due to shingles complications and reportedly suffers memory lapses, is “no longer fit to continue serving in the U.S. Senate.”
Even so, the poll found voters divided over whether Feinstein, 89, should serve out her final 19 months in office. While the largest proportion, 42%, said Feinstein should resign from the Senate and allow Gov. Gavin Newsom to appoint a successor, 27% said she should continue serving, and 31% were undecided.
“The poll clearly shows that while support for Senator Feinstein has waned considerably since 2018, there is no clear consensus about how the process should play out,” said IGS Co-Director G. Cristina Mora. “This will impact her ability to connect with voters and serve her constituents over the remainder of her term.”
Feinstein’s office had no comment on the poll Thursday morning.
With the primary election 10 months away, the poll also found a wide-open race to succeed Feinstein when her term ends in January 2025. Republican lawyer Eric Early held a narrow lead with 18%, but with Democrats enjoying a two-to-one party registration advantage in California over the GOP, they are expected to hold the seat.
Among Democrats, Rep. Katie Porter of Orange County led with 17%, followed by Rep. Adam Schiff at 14% and East Bay Rep. Barbara Lee at 9%. But 32% of California voters surveyed remained undecided on their next Senator, and 10% said they would choose someone else.
Porter’s campaign said Thursday that the poll “shows we’re…
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