While many LGBTQ leaders had hoped to see an out politician succeed Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in the U.S. Senate, most praised Governor Gavin Newsom s decision to name Secretary of State Alex Padilla Tuesday as California s first Latino senator in Congress.
Equality California, the statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization, for instance had sent Newsom a letter encouraging him to pick gay Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia for the Senate seat, or several other out leaders. The only members of the state s congressional delegation have been gay Congressman Mark Takano (D-Riverside) and bisexual former congresswoman Katie Hill (D-Agua Dulce). The national LGBTQ Victory Fund had also sent Newsom a letter asking him to name an out person to the seat.
California’s Dilemma: Latino or Latinx?
California’s Gov. Gruesom announced his pick to replace Kamala Harris in the Senate today, and it’s going to be the secretary of state Alex Padilla. There were widespread rumors that Gov. Gruesom was dreading the appointment, because the various Democratic Party identity factions were pressuring him to pick from among their ranks, as CNN reported a month ago:
A cross-country lobbying campaign for Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ Senate seat has pitted factions divided by race, gender and geography against one another and heightened internal tensions within at least one influential caucus on Capitol Hill.
2020/12/20 21:30 FILE - In this Oct. 30, 2020, file photo, California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a COVID-19 testing facility in Valencia, Calif. As California Gov. Ga. FILE - In this Oct. 30, 2020, file photo, California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a COVID-19 testing facility in Valencia, Calif. As California Gov. Gavin Newsom weighs whom to appoint to the Senate to fulfill the rest of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris term, he s facing pressure to name a Latino or a Black woman. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, Pool, File) FILE - In this Oct. 24, 2020, file photo Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. and Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio wave to emp.
Los Angeles County public health officials today announced 13,756 new COVID-19 cases and 60 more deaths, as the area crossed a landmark 600,000 cases, but also had to modify the department’s safety policy regarding places of worship to account for recent Supreme Court rulings.
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To date, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has reported 610,372 positive COVID-19 cases across and a total of 8,817 coronavirus-related deaths.
The county also estimates that one of every 80 residents not hospitalized or in quarantine/isolation is infected with the virus, likely without knowing it or showing any symptoms, yet still capable of infecting others.
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Should California get its first Latino U.S. senator or should the 100-member chamber maintain one Black woman’s voice?
That’s a weight on California Gov.
Gavin Newsom’s shoulders as he considers his pick to serve out the rest of Vice President-elect
Kamala Harris’ Senate term through 2022. That the choice is left to one governor has some observers frustrated with the persistent lack of racial diversity in the Senate and what they view as both parties’ failure to do much about it.
“It’s a false choice and it’s not good for democracy, and it masks the historical exclusion of both communities in the Senate,” said