Could the third time be (another) charm for Southern California in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s political playbook?
With now former state Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s confirmation Thursday, March 18, to become the nation’s Health and Human Services secretary, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that once again Newsom could pick his successor from the lower half of his state.
Flashback to December: Faced with state attorney general Kamala Harris moving on to the vice presidency, he had the rare opportunity to anoint a U.S. senator to fill out her term.
Check. Alex Padilla — of Los Angeles (make that Pacoima, he reminded us all during a stirring first speech on the floor of the Senate this week, during which he revisited his blue-collar roots).
The dominoes began to fall, allowing Newsom to pick Padilla’s successor as secretary of state — former Assembly member Shirley N. Weber of San Diego.
That’s two straight Southern Californians. The question is, who might be a third?
One direction to look might be Burbank, where high-profile Rep. Adam Schiff is among contenders.
Schiff, a former federal prosecutor, has law enforcement credentials. He’s been discussed for months as either a potential U.S. Senate contender or attorney general.
A lead House prosecutor in the first impeachment of President Donald Trump, Schiff rose to household-name status raising his profile among the Democratic faithful. In California — a solidly blue state — that could go a long way.
Plus, as Axios reported, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has given her blessing to lose Schiff from her congressional leadership team, where he helms the House Judiciary Committee.
And there’s always U.S. Senate race in 2024, if Sen. Dianne Feinstein decides not to run again.
But Schiff, while the best-known contender from the region, is by no means the only Southern Californian who has been talked about for the role.
Observers also point to Rick Chavez Zbur, executive director of Equality California, which advocates on LGBTQ issues. Zbur, based in Southern California, is a lawyer with a long history of advocating for LGBTQ+ and environmental causes. He’d been on the list early, but it was unclear if he was still on the short list.
He was Latham & Watkins’ first openly gay attorney and first openly gay partner. He worked in all aspects of the firm’s environmental, land and resource practice, including leading the firm’s extensive work before the California Coastal Commission.
Other names that could arise: Eloise Gómez Reyes, of San Bernardino, the Assembly’s majority leader; and former state Sen. Martha M. Escutia.
Escutia, from East L.A., served in both the state Senate and Assembly, rising from the back bench to key Senate leadership positions.
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, has emerged with some buzz, too.
Lieu, like Schiff, has tweeted toe-to-toe with Trump over the last four years. And he also served as an impeachment manager — for Trump’s second trial. For both Schiff and Lieu, that might be a double-edged sword. If either is picked, it could be translated at a poke at the Republican-propelled recall movement that Newsom faces and has vowed to defeat.
To his credit, Lieu, who has a quick wit and a growing national presence, certainly knows Sacramento. He served in the state Assembly and state Senate before he was elected to Congress.
Before that, he was a litigator. His wife, Betty, is a member of the Torrance Board of Education and a former deputy state attorney general.
With concern rising over a stunning rise in hate incidents, Newsom is being pressed by Asian and Pacific Islander leaders to pick someone of Asian descent for the role.
Democratic Assemblyman David Chiu of San Francisco said California’s next attorney general should be a leader for “API Americans everywhere.”
An Asian-American California attorney general could help strengthen relations between law enforcement and immigrant groups, said members of a coalition of leaders who called Wednesday for an API attorney general.
“Today I am proud to stand with my API brothers and sisters and calling on Gov. Newsom to be courageous once again, to do what is just,” Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo said.
Joining Lieu on a list of possible Asian American contenders could be Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu and Assemblyman Ash Kalra. Assemblyman Rob Bonta of Oakland is also considered one of the top contenders and would be the state’s first Filipino attorney general if approved.
“He understands as the son of immigrant parents what it’s like to come to this country when English is not your first language, for example, when there is mistrust of law enforcement,” state Treasurer Fiona Ma said.
Sacramento City Council member Mai Vang said the state’s next attorney general must “understand the trauma and hurt our Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are feeling.”
Several Latino elected officials joined the coalition’s call in a show of solidarity. Speakers noted that Newsom boosted the representation of Latinos by naming Padilla, the son of Mexican immigrants, to the U.S. Senate. He then appointed Weber, a former Assemblywoman, as the state’s top elections official, making her the first Black woman to the hold the job.
While Southern California beckons, a heavy contingent of contenders from points north are in the mix.
Indeed, experts see Bonta, of Oakland, and Darrell Steinberg, the mayor of Sacramento, on the short list.
“Newsom does need to look at geography,” said Marcia L. Godwin, professor of public administration at the University of LaVerne. “His last two appointments were from Los Angeles and San Diego, so he may be looking back toward Sacramento and the Bay Areas in this appointment.”
Regardless of who it is, Godwin said we should know soon.
“We have recent examples of how he’s handled appointments,” she said. “He was very quick after Kamala Harris officially resigned to both fill the U.S. Senate seat and replace (Padilla) with a new secretary of state He really wasted no time doing that.”
The governor will make his appointment soon, now that Becerra has been confirmed, said Newsom spokesman Jesse Melgar.
“He is considering a range of qualified candidates,” Melgar said in an email.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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