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On Twitter, Ms. Lee congratulated Mr. Padilla as “a skilled legislator and a steadfast advocate for justice,” Ms. Bass cheered “another historic barrier shattered” and Mr. Garcia promised his “100% support in his 2022 re-election.”
Nathalie Rayes, president and chief executive of the Latino Victory Fund, which had campaigned for Mr. Padilla, called the appointment “a long-overdue milestone for the Latino community” and a “bold step toward having a Senate that looks like the communities it serves.” She added, “His appointment will not only increase Latino representation in the Senate, but it will also open the door for future generations of Latino leaders.”
Leading California Republicans were less impressed. “One of the worst election officials in the nation will go to DC, unelected!!!” tweeted Harmeet Dhillon, a conservative civil rights lawyer and member of the Republican National Committee.
California’s senior senator, Dianne Feinstein, had endorsed Mr. Padilla, who had worked in her field office early in his career, and on Tuesday she called the appointment “an excellent choice.” In the run-up to his appointment, some interest groups had called for Ms. Feinstein herself to step down so the governor could pick two senators — a call that gained traction after a New Yorker article this month suggested that Ms. Feinstein, 87, was experiencing cognitive decline.
The elevation of Mr. Padilla leaves Mr. Newsom with a vacancy in the secretary of state’s office, a potential consolation prize for at least one disappointed contender. He will also have to appoint a new attorney general if the Senate confirms Xavier Becerra’s nomination as Mr. Biden’s secretary of health and human services.
The attorney general post, in particular, has in recent years served as a springboard for higher office; besides Mr. Becerra, recent attorneys general include Ms. Harris and California’s previous governor, Jerry Brown.
Alex Vassar, a legislative historian at the California State Library, said the last California governor to fill three statewide offices was Earl Warren, who in December 1952 and January 1953 appointed a new senator, a state controller and a member of the state Board of Equalization. Pat Brown also made three appointments in 1964 and 1965, Mr. Vassar said, but one was simply to speed up an incoming senator’s arrival.
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