California’s new election chief Shirley Weber had a story to tell Wednesday as she was introduced to the state’s 40 million residents, save the San Diego County constituents she represents in the Assembly: Her grandfather never voted because he lived in Arkansas during Jim Crow, before the Voting Rights Act.
Her father fled Hope, Arkansas, because he was imminently in peril of being lynched. But once safely ensconced in California in the 1950s, Weber said one of the first things he did was vote because he finally had the opportunity to do so.
“His not being able to go to school, not being able to vote, he instilled its importance in his eight children,” Weber, whom Governor Gavin Newsom appointed as secretary of state on Tuesday, said.
San Francisco mayor blasts California Governor Gavin Newsom for not picking a black woman to take Kamala Harris Senate seat
Governor Gavin Newsom named Secretary of State Alex Padilla, the son of Mexican immigrants, to fill Kamala Harris U.S. Senate seat
London Breed, herself an African-American woman, disagreed with the pick
Rep. Karen Bass also believed an African-American woman should be selected, but has since congratulated Padilla on his elevation to the Senate
Padilla will become the first Latino to represent California in Congress
Harris is currently the only African-American woman in the U.S. Senate
The choice, like many in retrospect, seemed an obvious one.
Padilla, a longtime Newsom ally, has a backstory that could tenderize the hardest heart: The son of Mexican immigrants a housekeeper and short-order cook he graduated from MIT, dutifully climbed the political ladder and now, at age 47, joins one of the most exclusive and privileged clubs on the planet.
It’s the kind of only-in-America story we tell to soothe our souls.
Advertisement
The fact that Latinos constitute 40% of the state’s population added weight to the argument both political and symbolic for Padilla’s appointment. He was the front-runner from the get-go.