by Andrew Trunsky
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that Alex Padilla, California’s Secretary of State, will succeed Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in the Senate.
Padilla, 47, will be the first Latino senator in California’s history. His selection was first reported by The Los Angeles Times.
“Through his tenacity, integrity, smarts and grit, California is gaining a tested fighter in their corner who will be a fierce ally in D.C., lifting up our state’s values and making sure we secure the critical resources to emerge stronger from this pandemic,” Newsom said. “He will be a senator for all Californians.”
Newsom also praised Padilla’s decades of public service. He was elected to the Los Angeles City Council at age 26, served two terms as a state senator and is serving in his second term as California’s secretary of state.
“I am honored and humbled by the trust placed in me by Governor Newsom, and I intend to work each and every day to honor that trust and deliver for all Californians,” Padilla said in a statement.
Though multiple California officials were floated as Harris’s possible successor, Padilla had been widely seen as the frontrunner and had already received a key endorsement from Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
“I have given him my support. I did that quite a while ago,” Feinstein said in early December. “And my sense is that he’s going to represent California very well. He’s someone I would be happy to work with, and also bring Hispanic representation to the Senate for the first time.”
Padilla also had the support of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who lobbied Newsom to tap a Latino for the position and has long pushed for greater Latino representation in the Senate. The Caucus’s chair, California Rep. Tony Cárdenas, said in November that the Democratic Party’s message needed to change “overnight” after it underperformed in Latino communities across the country in November’s elections.
Though Padilla’s nomination was seen by many as groundbreaking in a state that is nearly 40% Latino, some Democratic factions urged Newsom to instead pick a black woman to succeed Harris. California progressives, already frustrated with Feinstein’s centrist demeanor, specifically pushed for Rep. Barbara Lee or Rep. Karen Bass, who was also vetted as a running mate for President-elect Joe Biden.
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Andrew Trunsky is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
I have to ask, if “you” were the child of “emigrants” from Mexico and after graduating from a public high school, you received a coveted spot at the world’s most prestigious engineer school, MIT, and had that education paid for by the nation you parents “emigrated” to… Wouldn’t you feel the slightest obligation to society to work in the field you were trained in, for more than a year, before leaving your job to become the “personal assistance” to CA Senator Dianne Feinstein?!
I mean no disrespect to all those hard working interns who keep calendars and pickup laundry for important people, but a MIT Engineering grad? An affirmative action, take this free seat at the head of the class, MIT engineer, who feels nothing for taking a seat, which may have produced someone who could have cured cancer, or spotted an asteroid hurdling to earth, saving all humanity….?
Got to love this country! ? Not what you know… But who you……..
Please… stop the words used. “ president elect”. When mentioning dementia Biden. I’m sick of this lie!,, Trump won big and it’s clear that no way did 81 million voters cast a vote legally for this old man , Biden. He’s unable to think and he is dangerous to our security. And no way do I want that Socialist. Harris in my Oval Office.