All Eyes on Newsom, Harris for Boxer Seat

All Eyes on Newsom, Harris for Boxer Seat-politico: Barbara Boxer’s retirement sets the stage for a dramatic and long-awaited transformation of California’s political landscape and a 2016 Senate race that seems destined to evolve into a big-spending free-for-all, pitting many of the state’s most ambitious lawmakers against each other. The announcement set off an immediate burst of speculation about possible candidates, a list that included such bold-faced names as former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and billionaire hedge-fund manager and environmental activist Tom Steyer. But most of the attention turned to Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Kamala Harris, two of the Democratic Party’s premier up-and-coming figures who have long been seen as candidates for higher office.