California Gov. Gavin Newsom has selected the state's Secretary of State Alex Padilla to fill Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' US Senate seat. Padilla will be the first-ever Latino to represent California in the US Senate, and will serve out the rest of Harris' term until 2022, at which point he will have the option to run for a full term. Padilla previously served as a Los Angeles City Council member in the late 1990s and early 2000s and then as a state senator before being elected as secretary of state in 2014. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has selected the state's Secretary of State Alex Padilla to fill Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' US Senate seat, Newsom and Padilla announced on Tuesday.