California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to fill Kamala Harris’ seat in Congress on Tuesday (Dec. 22).
Newsom said in the announcement that Padilla is of Mexican immigrant descent and that his parents worked as cooks and housecleaners. He will be the first Latino senator in California’s history.
Padilla graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then worked in the Los Angeles City Council and the state Senate before serving as California’s Secretary of State, in charge of voting matters.
Newsom said Padilla will be among Washington, D.C., as California’s next U.S. senator, a proven fighter who will be a tough ally for the state, elevating California’s values in the capital and ensuring that the state receives critical federal resources to more tenaciously fight its way out of the epidemic.
Newsom said in a video of the appointment sent out Tuesday on social media Twitter that there is no better person to represent California in Congress than Padilla.
In a statement provided by the governor’s office, Padilla said, “I am honored and humbled by the trust Governor Newsom has placed in me, and I will work hard, live up to that trust, and serve all Californians every single day.”
Padilla has served as California’s first Latino Secretary of State since 2015.
Harmeet Dhillon, a San Francisco attorney and Bay Area Republican National Committee member, tweeted in response to the appointment news, saying, “One of the worst elected officials in the country is going to Washington and he’s not elected! This will put a fitting end to his failed (Secretary of State) tenure. Remember the last time, when businesses and churches were shut down during an epidemic lockdown, he said it was cool for strangers to go door-to-door collecting ballots?”
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