Harris’ Historic Win

Kamala Harris at a rally at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland on Jan. 27, 2019. Photo by Jose Carlos Fajardo, Bay Area News Group

How things have changed for California.

With the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the next president and vice president, the Golden State — which spent the past four years mired in a contentious relationship and more than 100 lawsuits with the Trump administration — is poised to exert more influence in the White House than it has in at least a generation. Harris, the first woman and woman of color to win the vice presidency, is only the second Californian — and the first California Democrat — to do so. Her California roots and decades-long friendship with Gov. Gavin Newsom will likely help the Golden State attract more federal attention and funding as it grapples with the pandemic and a historic fire season, CalMatters’ Laurel Rosenhall reports.

  • Peter Schwarzkopf, speaker of the Delaware House of Representatives: When Biden was vice president, “we had access to him and that’s how it will be with Kamala too. You won’t have to explain things to her, she’ll know what you need. … Your state will now have a front-row seat to the administration.”

Harris’ ascent to the vice presidency has also set off multiple iterations of political musical chairs. The first: Who will fill her seat in the U.S. Senate? That decision is ultimately in the hands of Newsom, and there is no shortage of ambitious California Democrats clamoring for the job.

  • Newsom“There’s phone calls, there’s emails. … People just happen to show up certain places. They want to babysit your kids, they offer to get groceries, get coffee.”

Some of the officials likely on Newsom’s shortlist are also rumored to be top contenders for posts in the Biden-Harris administration. Here’s a look at some of the Californians who could end up running federal agencies:

  • Attorney General Xavier Becerra: Department of Justice or Department of Homeland Security
  • California Air Resources Board Chair Mary NicholsEnvironmental Protection Agency
  • Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti: Department of Transportation
  • Former HP CEO Meg Whitman: Department of Commerce
  • California Labor Secretary Julie Su: Department of Labor
  • California Rep. Karen Bass: Department of Housing and Urban Development
  • California State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond: Department of Education

 CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

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