Senator Boxer to Retire; Who will replace her?

US Senator Barbara Boxer has announced that she will retire from the US Senate setting the stage for an interesting 2016 US Senate battle.  The big question is which Democrat will replace her?

From the AP story:

Boxer’s retirement will set off a free-for-all among California Democrats, who have been ascendant in the state for decades with few offices to aspire to while Boxer and Sen. Dianne Feinstein have had a lock on the state’s U.S. Senate seats.

The 74-year-old Boxer made the announcement in an unusual video in which she answered questions posed by her grandson,

. “I am never going to retire. The work is too important. But I will not be running for the Senate in 2016,” Boxer said.

Boxer said her age was not a factor in her decision, nor was infighting in the Senate. “I feel as young as I did when I got elected,” Boxer said.

She closed with a poem. “So although I won’t be working in my Senate space and I won’t be running in that next tough race, as long as there are issues and challenges and strife, I will never retire because that’s the meaning of my life.”

Boxer was first elected to the House in 1982 and to the Senate one decade later. It was an election that marked a watershed year for women in politics, with four winning U.S. Senate seats. Boxer prominently displays in her office a photograph of her and six other female members of the House marching up the steps leading to the Senate, where they demanded that senators hold hearings on Anita Hill’s allegations of sexual harassment against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas before holding his confirmation vote.

This is largely a safe Blue seat.  There isn’t a credible Republican likely to be electable although one might certainly make it a two horse race.  Boxer trounced Carly Fiorina in 2010; Fiorina topped former Irvine resident Chuck DeVore in the primary.

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (CA-46) today released the following statement after California Senator Barbara Boxer announced that she would not seek re-election in 2016.

“Senator Barbara Boxer has made history more times than I can count. As a champion of environmental protection, quality public education and women’s rights, Senator Boxer has played a pivotal role in Washington. Above all, Senator Boxer put Californians first and for that our state will be forever grateful.

“It goes without saying that her leadership and presence will be sorely missed. I wish Senator Boxer and her family all my best.”

Likely candidates to challenge for Boxer’s seat are Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, AG Kamala Harris, or Lt. Governor Gavin Newsome if he decides he’d rather be Senator than Governor.