California Gov. Gavin Newsom received some backlash on Tuesday for not picking a Black woman to fill the remainder of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s Senate …
California Gov. Gavin Newsom received some backlash on Tuesday for not picking a Black woman to fill the remainder of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s Senate term. The Democratic governor instead selected Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who is a Latino, to be the state’s next U.S. senator – a first in California’s history. Padilla’s appointment gives a new level of representation to Latinos, who make up the state’s single largest demographic group at nearly 40% of the population. But Newsom’s choice of Padilla also means there will be no Black women in the 100-member Senate. Harris, who is Black and Indian, was the only Black woman in the Senate. Matt Stoller, of the American Economic Liberties Project, tweeted that Newsom « should have picked » Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., « because she’s great and is always full of ideological integrity.
