California’s Newest Latino Senate Candidate That Almost Wasn’t

Last week the country was introduced to Kamala Harris’ much anticipated senate replacement current California Secretary of State Alex Padilla. While many applauded Governor Gavin Newsom for making this historic appointment it almost didn’t happen.

After Senator Harris celebrated her victory as the Vice-President Elect alongside Joe Biden the unrelenting pressure for Newsom to appoint an African-American woman to fill her seat began nonstop. A number of names were floated to replace Harris and a tremendous amount of political pressure was brought to bear on Governor Newsom publicly and privately. Political kingmaker and former California Speaker of the House and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown demanded that Newsom appoint an African-American woman as Harris’s replacement. Full disclosure I worked for both Mayors Brown and Newsom in the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Community Development for over a decade.

But Governor Newsom did not yield to the immediate pressure and took a number of weeks to come to his decision to appoint a rising star in California democratic politics Secretary of State Alex Padilla who had twice been elected to statewide office. While Padilla is considered a trusted friend and political supporter of Newsom one wonders what caused him to buck the pressure and select Padilla.

California’s demographics should have been the first hint. Hispanics make up nearly 40% of the state’s 40 million population with Whites second at 36.5%, Asians 15.5% and blacks 6.5%. Hispanics supported Newsom overwhelmingly in his runs for Lt. Governor and Governor. And Newsom has been threatened with a recall so having a loyal voting block of Hispanic voters would serve as a backstop should such a longshot recall move forward. And the Hispanic vote was decisive in helping to elect the Biden-Harris ticket nationally .

In the end it was the right thing to do for a Hispanic community that despite our overwhelming numbers remains underrepresented at the highest levels of political power. Reminiscent of Newsom making history by supporting gay marriage as San Francisco’s mayor back in 2004 he once again made California history by appointing Alex Padilla as our next California US Senator.

And later that day Governor Newsom made history a second time by appointing Assemblywoman Shirley Weber as California’s first African-American Secretary of State to replace Padilla.

And so, 2021 will continue to see the emergence of the Hispanic community as a powerful voting block for many years to come.