For decades, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has been California’s most popular national politician. But a new poll shows that newbie Kamala Harris, who has become an outspoken leader of the Trump “resistance” in her first eight months in office, is starting to eclipse the grand dame.

“Feinstein is being upstaged by this young upstart,” said Mark DiCamillo, director of UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies.

In this historically divisive political climate in the era of President Donald Trump, young voters in particular are finding Harris’ newfound role as a tough-talking fighter more alluring than Feinstein’s longheld reputation as a practical dealmaker.

Harris has become so popular so fast that many national pundits are floating the name of the first-year senator and former California attorney general as a possible presidential contender in 2020.

But most California voters say that, for now at least, they want her to stay where she is, according to the Berkeley IGS Poll.

Twenty-two percent of respondents said they want her to run for president, compared to 49 percent who want her to remain in the Senate. Twenty-nine percent had no opinion.

While Democrats in general remain loyal to Feinstein, only 45 percent of California voters are inclined to support her if she decides to run for a fifth term next year, while 41 percent are not.

“That’s not a great position for a politician to be in,” said Jack Pitney, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College. “You want people to focus on your plans and your accomplishments, not your retirement scenario.”

That the 84-year-old Feinstein, who took office in 1992 after serving as San Francisco mayor, still remains popular among her California electorate — with a 50 approval rating — “is no small feat,” DiCamillo said. But it’s a dip from 59 percent approval in March — and comes after two events in San Francisco when she was greeted by a standing ovation in one but booed at both when she essentially said Trump should be given a chance to redeem himself.

“She’s always been a moderate and she is speaking to a liberal Bay Area audience and they weren’t happy with her point of view, which is get along when you can and resist when you must,” said Barbara O’Connor, director emeritus of the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media at Cal State Sacramento.

The job performance rating between the two senators — 50 percent approval for Feinstein to Harris’s 52 percent — is within the margin of error. But Feinstein’s disapproval rate was substantially higher than Harris’ — 36 percent compared with 29 percent.

Harris is gaining traction among California voters under 30 especially, who are nearly twice as likely to support a Harris presidential bid than voters over 65.

Among voters under 30, 34 percent approve of Feinstein, compared with 35 percent who disapprove of the veteran senator.

“It’s inevitable that younger voters will find Kamala Harris attractive. It’s just a generational inevitability,” said longtime Democratic strategist Darry Sragow, who ran Feinstein’s 1990 campaign for governor. “The question on the whole is what the people voting want in a senator, and some clearly want a fighter. But there are plenty of voters who aren’t interested in a fighter. They’re interested in a problem solver and pragmatist.”

Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney, made news during congressional hearings in June for her relentless questioning of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein. These CNN headlines followed: “Senators try to quiet Kamala Harris, but she doesn’t back down,” and “Kamala Harris rips up the script.”

The online survey of 1,200 registered voters, done in conjunction with YouGov — an international market research firm — was completed Aug. 27 through Sept. 5 in English and Spanish. According to YouGov, the survey results have a margin or error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

In the Bay Area, Feinstein carries a 61 percent approval rating compared with Harris’ 59 percent. In Los Angeles, where Harris recently moved to be with her new husband, she has a slight advantage in popularity, 58 percent to 55 percent. In the conservative Central Valley, both senators have approval ratings of 44 percent.

Sragow said the numbers show both candidates are in good shape politically. And because they’re not running against each other, the numbers don’t really carry much weight.

“Kamala Harris is off to a good start, and Dianne Feinstein is in solid position for someone who’s been around 25 years and weathered all kinds of storms,” Sragow said.