Newsom Names Padilla To U.S. Senate; Asm. Shirley Weber As Secretary Of State

As Secretary of State, Padilla oversaw a greater shift to vote-by-mail during the coronavirus pandemic and a record-breaking 17.8 million ballots cast during a contentious presidential election. He boosted voter registrations through a “motor voter” program, which allows automatic voter registration and pre-registration for 16- and 17-year olds at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Though the program got off to a rocky start, it has helped add roughly 3 million voters to the state’s rolls. 

But Padilla’s appointment leaves the state with an unpaid $34 million voter outreach bill from the November election. The Secretary of State’s office awarded the contract to SDSKnickerbocker, a public affairs firm aligned with Democratic campaigns which worked with President-elect Joe Biden’s campaign. 

Republicans and members of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association blasted the contract and filed a lawsuit to stop the contract payment, according to the Sacramento Bee. State Controller Betty Yee has said she will not approve the funds. 

Newsom praised Padilla as “a national defender of voting rights” and someone who ascended from “humble beginnings” to the halls of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology  —  where he earned a mechanical engineering degree  —  and to the L.A. City Council and the state legislature. 

“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 news release. “He will be a Senator for all Californians.”

Padilla will finish out the two years left in Harris’ term and would need to seek re-election in 2022 to keep the seat. He launched a website and opened a campaign committee Tuesday morning, ahead of the announcement. 

Not An Easy Pick For Newsom 

Newsom faced enormous pressure from competing interests in naming a successor for Harris. Groups including the Latino Victory Fund lobbied hard for Newsom to pick Padilla and send a Latino to the Senate soon after Harris was named Biden’s running mate in August. 

Others pressed him to appoint another Black woman or a person of south Asian descent, while still others called for him to send the state’s first openly LGBT person to the Senate.

Latino Victory Fund president and CEO Nathalie Rayes said Padilla’s appointment “marks a long-overdue milestone” for California’s Latino community. 

“It’s a bold step towards having a Senate that looks like the communities it serves,” Rayes said. “His appointment will not only increase Latino representation in the Senate, but it will also open the door for future generations of Latino leaders.”

State Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, who chairs the Legislative Latino Caucus, praised Padilla for raising voter turnout among marginalized communities and becoming the first Latino to hold several elected positions in the state. 

“He was the first Latino President of the Los Angeles City Council, the first Latino Secretary of State, and now it's only fitting that he will serve as the first Latino U.S. Senator from California,” Durazo said. “Latinos make up 40% of California's population and 50% of our students — more than anywhere in the country.  I commend Gov. Newsom in his selection of Secretary Padilla, a tested, effective advocate for all Californians." 

But not everyone was pleased with Padilla’s nomination. Harris’ departure means there will no longer be a single Black woman within the Senate’s ranks, which San Francisco Mayor London Breed called “unfortunate.”  

“This is a real blow to the African-American community, to African-American women, to women in general,” Breed said. “It was definitely a surprise and it’s an unfortunate situation as we are trying to move this country forward and making sure that Black lives truly matter.” 

Weber To Replace Padilla

Newsom moved quickly to allay those criticisms, naming Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, (D-San Diego) to fill Padilla’s position within hours.

“Dr. Weber is a tireless advocate and change agent with unimpeachable integrity,” Newsom said in a news release. “The daughter of sharecroppers from Arkansas, Dr. Weber’s father didn’t get to vote until his 30s and her grandfather never got to vote because he died before the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965. When her family moved to South Central Los Angeles, she saw as a child her parents rearrange furniture in their living room to serve as a local polling site for multiple elections. Now, she’ll be at the helm of California’s elections as the next Secretary of State – defending and expanding the right to vote and serving as the first African-American to be California’s Chief Elections Officer.”

Weber chairs the California Legislative Black Caucus and is a longtime advocate for civil rights and racial justice. She has represented eastern San Diego and its suburbs in the Legislature since 2012.

Before that, she spent four decades as a professor and chair of the Department of Africana Studies at San Diego State University and served on the board of the San Diego Unified School District.

“I am excited to be nominated for this historic appointment as the Secretary of State of California,” Weber said in a statement. “I thank Governor Newsom for the confidence he’s placed in me and his belief that I will stand strong for California. Being the first African-American woman in this position will be a monumental responsibility, but I know that I am up for the challenge. Expanding voting rights has been one of the causes of my career and will continue to motivate me as I assume my new constitutional duties.”

According to Newsom’s office, Weber’s nomination is subject to confirmation by both chambers in the state legislature within 90 days. She is expected to be confirmed to the post. 

After that, Newsom must call a special election to fill Weber’s vacant Assembly seat. He has already called a special election on May 4 to fill the state senate seat vacated by newly-sworn in Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell.

Earlier this year, Weber passed a bill to create the nation’s first reparations task force. The state-sanctioned group will study slavery and its societal harms and recommend ways to amend for those and other racist practices.

“It should really inform all of California about just how pervasive racism has been and is in most societies,” Weber said of the task force in an October interview with CapRadio. “When it's instituted, it doesn't just quickly go away. It's self-embedded in so many aspects of that culture.”