SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom chosen Secretary of State Alex Padilla on Tuesday because the state’s subsequent U.S. senator, a historic decide that sends a Latino to the Senate for the primary time within the state’s historical past.
Whereas Padilla had been the favourite, a video launched by Newsom’s workplace reveals him getting emotional after Newsom supplied him the job, reflecting on the onerous work of his mother and father, who got here to the US from Mexico and labored as a prepare dinner and a housekeeper.
“It is a hell of an necessary perspective to convey to Washington,” he advised Newsom.
Padilla, 47, was appointed to fill out the rest of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ time period. She plans to step down from the seat in January forward of Inauguration Day, on Jan. 20. Padilla might want to run for a full time period in 2022. The appointment offers him a bonus, however he is nonetheless prone to face challengers; California’s top-two main system permits two Democrats to face off in a normal election.
“I’m honored and humbled by the belief positioned in me by Governor Newsom, and I intend to work each day to honor that belief and ship for all Californians,” Padilla mentioned in an announcement.
Padilla’s appointment offers a brand new stage of illustration to Latinos, who make up the state’s single largest demographic group at practically 40% of the inhabitants. However Newsom’s alternative of Padilla additionally means there might be no Black ladies within the 100-member Senate. Harris, who’s Black and Indian, was the one Black girl within the Senate, and Black leaders had been lobbying Newsom to nominate both Reps. Karen Bass or Barbara Lee to switch her.
“Secretary Padilla has a monitor file as a talented legislator and a steadfast advocate for justice, and I imagine he might be a robust voice within the Senate for many who proceed to be denied our nation’s promise of equality,” Lee mentioned in an announcement.
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Newsom faced competing pressures to appoint a Latino to the seat and to appoint a Black woman. Harris, earlier than making historical past as the primary African American and Asian American girl to be elected vp, was California’s first African American senator and the second Black girl elected to the U.S. Senate.
The U.S. Senate presently has 4 Latino members: Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; and Robert Menendez, D-N.J.
Who’s Alex Padilla?
Padilla was first elected as California’s prime elections official in 2014 and received a second time period 4 years later. In that place, he’s overseen California’s huge elections equipment, together with the rollout of a extra sturdy vote-by-mail system. Within the November election, California mailed a poll to each registered voter. Previous to that, he oversaw the implementation of the Voter’s Alternative Act, a 2016 legislation that allowed counties to mail all registered voters a poll. The state now has 22 million voters.
Padilla lives in Los Angeles along with his spouse and three sons, ages 5, 7 and 13.
His appointment will convey geographic range to California’s illustration in Washington. Dianne Feinstein, California’s different senator, is from San Francisco, and politicians from Northern California have held a number of the state’s highest political workplaces for many years. Harris constructed her political profession in San Francisco earlier than shifting to Los Angeles.
Feinstein, whom Padilla as soon as labored for, introduced her help for his nomination in early December.
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He and Newsom have an extended relationship. When Newsom first ran for governor in 2009, Padilla chaired his marketing campaign. Newsom dropped out when former Gov. Jerry Brown entered the race and as a substitute ran for lieutenant governor, a job he held for eight years. When he ran once more for governor in 2018 in a aggressive main, Padilla endorsed him over different outstanding Democrats, together with former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The marketing campaign arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Latino Victory Fund had been among the many teams advocating for Newsom to pick Padilla.
“This marks a long-overdue milestone for the Latino group, and it’s a daring step in direction of having a Senate that appears just like the communities it serves,” Nathalie Rayes, Latino Victory Fund president & chief govt officer, mentioned in an announcement.
Padilla has been on the state’s political scene for greater than twenty years. He was first elected to serve on the Los Angeles Metropolis Council in 1999, at age 26.
He represented a Los Angeles-area district within the California state Senate from 2006 to 2014, the place he chaired the Committee on Power, Utilities and Communication. He authored a variety of laws, together with a legislation to make eating places checklist their calorie counts and one other to create California’s earthquake early warning system. He has an engineering diploma from the Massachusetts Institute of Know-how, and he beforehand served on the varsity’s governing board.
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Padilla, having received twice statewide, begins with a bonus going into the 2022 marketing campaign. In 2018, he received reelection with 7.9 million votes, greater than Newsom and the second highest complete for any statewide officer behind Controller Betty Yee.
However a era of California politicians are hitting time period limits of their present jobs or searching for to maneuver up within the state’s political pecking order. Underscoring the fast pivot to a reelection marketing campaign, Padilla launched an almost two-minute video Tuesday doubling as a bio spot and a marketing campaign advert, paid for by “Alex Padilla for Senate.”
Republicans shortly criticized Newsom’s announcement.
“By the trying glass of California politics, our state’s prime elections official will now develop into a U.S Senator with out an election,” Republican state Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, a frequent critic, tweeted.
Padilla additionally confronted criticism this yr for awarding a $35 million contract to SKDKnickerbocker for a voter training marketing campaign forward of the November election. SKDKnickerbocker had ties to Joe Biden’s presidential marketing campaign, prompting criticism that Padilla was utilizing taxpayer {dollars} with a political agenda. Then Yee, the state’s controller and a fellow Democrat, refused to authorize cost of the contract, saying her workplace did not have authority.
In selecting Padilla, Newsom offers himself one more appointment. He’ll be capable to choose California’s subsequent secretary of state. He’s additionally weighing his alternative for California’s subsequent lawyer normal, as President-elect Joe Biden has named California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
USA TODAY’s Mabinty Quarshie contributed.
