Skip to main content

In California: Golden State gets first Latino senator as Padilla to take Harris' seat

Julie Makinen   | Paste BN

Plus: 2 million COVID-19 cases by Christmas? The pandemic is affecting pets and high schoolers, too. And Trump has pardoned former GOP congressman Duncan Hunter, who was just about to go to jail.

Bringing you a sleigh full of headlines, I'm Julie Makinen, California editor for the USA Today Network.

In California brings you top Golden State stories and commentary from across the Paste BN Network and beyond. Get it free, straight to your inbox.

Newsom picks Secretary of State Alex Padilla, a longtime ally,  to fill Kamala Harris' seat in Senate

California Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Secretary of State Alex Padilla on Tuesday as the state's next U.S. senator to fill the seat being vacated by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. 

The child of Mexican immigrants, Padilla will be California’s first Latino senator, giving a new level of representation to the demographic group that makes up nearly 40% of the state's population. 

“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 in a statement.

Padilla was widely expected to be Newsom's pick, as the two are longtime political allies. Newsom faced competing pressures to appoint a Latino to the seat and to appoint a Black woman, as Harris was the only Black woman in the chamber.

Key facts about Padilla:

  • Now 47, he was first elected to serve on the Los Angeles City Council in 1999, at age 26.
  • He represented a Los Angeles-area district in the state Senate from 2006 to 2014, where he chaired the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communication.
  •  In Sacramento, he authored a wide range of legislation, including a law to make restaurants list their calorie counts and another to create California’s earthquake early warning system.
  • He has an engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and he previously served on the school’s governing board.

  • Padilla lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three sons, ages 5, 7 and 13.

 He’ll hold the Senate seat through 2022, when he will have to run for reelection. 

As for who will replace Padilla as secretary of state — the official who oversees elections  — Newsom will select Democratic Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, the L.A. Times reported. Weber, a 72-year-old retired professor and San Diego legislator, has a reputation for taking on tough issues at the Capitol. She would be the first Black woman to hold the post.

California approaches 2 million COVID-19 cases ... less than 6 weeks after hitting 1 million

It's hard not to feel numb about the drumbeat of dire headlines on California's surging COVID-19 caseload. 

In the week ending Monday, California reported 312,394 new coronavirus cases — more than Japan, South Korea and Norway combined have reported through the entire pandemic, a Paste BN analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. The state has less than a quarter of the population of those three nations. 

California represents about 11.9% of the United States population but reported 20.7%  of the cases in the week ending Monday. The state has logged almost 2 million cases and 22,000 deaths, with new records seemingly set daily. It only hit 1 million cases around Nov. 12, the L.A. Times notes.

"I feel like someone at war; it's chaotic all the time," said Erin McIntosh, 38, a mother of four who works as a rapid response nurse at Riverside Community Hospital, southeast of Los Angeles. She said the National Guard is scheduled to help with care soon.

"Nurses do this because it's their life's work," she said. "But many are reaching their breaking point."

The pandemic's impact on pets, college applicants and holiday travel ...

Year-end grab bag: Pardons, a questionable poem and more 

As the holidays approach it always seems there's an increase in odd news stories. Here's a pick of some we took note of:

  • A self-described "comedy satire piece" with racial overtones shared Friday on social media by Assemblyman Devon Mathis (R-Visalia) is raising some eyebrows, according to critics. The post, a riff on a popular Christmas carol, called "The 12 Vato Days of Christmas” promotes harmful stereotypes about Mexican-American culture, some constituents said.
  • In what The New York Times called "an audacious pre-Christmas round of pardons," President Trump granted clemency on Tuesday to two people convicted in the special counsel’s Russia inquiry, four Blackwater guards convicted in connection with the killing of Iraqi civilians and three corrupt former Republican members of Congress — including Duncan Hunter of California, who was set to begin serving an 11-month sentence next month. He pleaded guilty in 2019 to one charge of misusing campaign funds.
  • If you're one of those who doesn't believe in Santa Claus, take a look at some of SoCal's beaches. The Orange County Register reports that "from Seal Beach to the South Bay, Surfing Santas have been a cheerful sight that stops beachgoers on the sand to marvel at the oh-so-California scene." One of them, Michael Pless, founder of M&M Surf School, has been riding the waves in a Santa costume for three decades. Most years he does it for a few weeks leading up to Christmas, but this year he got a late start due to a broken foot and shoulder he got in October after rushing to help put out an apartment fire.

In California is a roundup of news from across USA Today network newsrooms. Also contributing: Los Angeles Times, New York Times, The Orange County Register.

Julie Makinen is California editor for the USA Today Network. Follow her on Twitter at @Julie_Makinen

Facebook Twitter Email