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California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, selected California Secretary of State Alex Padilla for the Senate seat that Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will vacate. The son of Mexican immigrants a cook and house cleaner Alex Padilla worked his way from humble beginnings to the halls of MIT, the Los Angeles City Council and the State Senate, and has become a national defender of voting rights as California’s Secretary of State, Newsom said in a statement on Tuesday. Now, he will serve in the halls of our nation’s Capitol as California’s next United States Senator, the first Latino to hold this office.
Reuters Reuters
22 December, 2020, 5:50 pm
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President-elect Joe Biden arrives to address a drive-in campaign rally on behalf of Democratic U.S. Senate candidates from Georgia Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, ahead of their January 5 runoff elections, at Pullman Yard in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., December 15, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Segar
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Silicon Valley is working behind the scenes to secure senior roles for tech allies in lesser-known but still vital parts of president-elect Joe Biden’s administration, even as the pushback against Big Tech from progressive groups and regulators grows.
The Biden transition team has already stacked its agency review teams with more tech executives than tech critics. It has also added to its staff several officials from Big Tech companies, which emerged as top donors to the campaign.
December 22, 2020 2:12 p.m.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Tuesday appointed California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to fill the Senate seat that Vice President-elect Kamala Harris held.
Padilla, who was raised by Mexican-born immigrants and grew up in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, is set to be the first Latino senator in a state where Latinos make up about 40 percent of the population.
In a statement on Tuesday, Padilla nodded to surging cases of COVID-19 nationwide as he expressed how “honored and humbled” he is by Newsom’s decision to allow him to represent California in the Senate.
“From those struggling to make ends meet to the small businesses fighting to keep their doors open to the health care workers looking for relief, please know that I am going to the Senate to fight for you,” Padilla said. “We will get through this pandemic together and rebuild our economy in a way that doesn’t leave working families behind.”
Despite COVID-19, economic downturns, religious charities working overseas keep the faith
With declining numbers of volunteers and donors, global faith-based aid organizations are looking beyond their traditional sources of support. Catholic Relief Services staff educate local residents on ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Tajumulco, San Marcos, Guatemala, in November 2020. The program in which 89,880 people will participate in total, with the support of the United States Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID / OFDA) and local partner Cáritas San Marcos, aims to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. Photo by Eric Salguero/Cinema Studio for Catholic Relief Services
December 22, 2020
(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
We Californians saw this coming, despite the internecine battles among the Latino Women’s Caucus of the California Legislature.
“California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will appoint Secretary of State Alex Padilla (D) to fill a U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris (D), a source close to Newsom confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday.”
The Latino Caucus did win on the diversity card in terms of race, which is on point for progressive California:
“Padilla, 47, will be the first Latino to represent California in the Senate. He had been seen as the front-runner for the post, both given his statewide profile and his close relationship with Newsom.”