SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Over an emotional video call, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed the first Latino US Senator to represent California. Secretary of State Alex Padilla will fill the vacant Senate seat left by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
“I’m honored and humbled,” Padilla said to the governor during the call.
The appointment is a historic moment for Latinos and for Abram Diaz, Co-Chair of the California Latino Capitol Association Foundation.
“I think it’s because of leadership like his that we have individuals like myself who are inspired to get into politics,” Diaz said.
Padilla is the son of Mexican born immigrants. He credits his father, who was a cook, and his mother, who cleaned homes, for inspiring him to give Latinos a political voice.
“That authenticity, that caring and compassion he has, I think, will only better serve all of California,” Diaz said.
After earning a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Padilla shifted his focus to fighting racial immigrant injustice. At age 26, Padilla was elected to Los Angeles City Council. He went on to bring other Latinos into politics.
“As a person, he cares deeply about making it fair for everybody,” Diaz said.
Now at the age of 47, Padilla plans to take the Latino voice to congress and represent California, a state where Latinos make up nearly 40% of the population.
“I will make you proud and California proud by getting it done,” Padilla said to the Governor Newsom.
In another historic moment in California politics, Governor Newsom appointed Assemblymember Shirley Weber to fill Padilla’s role of Secretary of State. Weber is chair of California Legislative Black Caucus, and she will be the first African American to be California secretary of state.
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