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When California Sen. Mike McGuire takes over as leader of the state Senate on Monday, it will likely be the primary time in many years that the state’s prime two legislative leaders aren’t from a significant city middle.
But McGuire says the problems that the majority afflict rural districts like his — together with childhood poverty, opioid habit and housing shortages — resonate with the 39 million individuals residing throughout the state.
“Everything that I simply talked about are issues of Californians in Eureka and issues of Californians in Los Angeles,” McGuire mentioned in a current interview with The Associated Press.
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McGuire, 44, comes from a household of prune farmers and was first elected to public workplace in 1998, when he received a faculty board seat within the small metropolis of Healdsburg. He was elected to the state Senate in 2014 and has since authored laws to guard marine life, help cannabis farmers, make cellphone service extra dependable throughout energy outages and battle the impacts of wildfires, a difficulty that hits near house.
The Democrat’s district spans from simply north of the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border.
McGuire will succeed state Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, a San Diego Democrat who lately introduced her bid for governor in 2026.
State Senate President Pro Tempore Designate Mike McGuire is seen right here within the state Senate Chambers in Sacramento, California, on Jan. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
As Senate professional tem, McGuire shall be one of the highly effective politicians in California as he helps drive selections about which insurance policies make their method by way of the Legislature and appoints lawmakers to key committees. He will lead the Senate for 2 years earlier than terming out of the Legislature in 2026.
All the whereas, McGuire will work with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Assembly on the state finances. He should steadiness the fact of the state’s projected finances deficit of practically $38 billion with bold proposals from his caucus, together with a invoice by state Sen. Steven Bradford of Los Angeles to create an company that will assist Black households analysis their household lineage.
He will lead alongside Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, a Democrat from a rural a part of California’s central coast. While McGuire grew up in a farming household, Rivas was the grandson of farmworkers.
Rivas, who was sworn into his management submit in June, mentioned lately that he first met McGuire at a 2010 California State Association of Counties coaching for brand new supervisors whereas McGuire was representing Sonoma County and Rivas was representing San Benito County.
“We share a lot of the same priorities and experiences,” Rivas mentioned.
While they hail from rural areas, the 2 lawmakers proceed to market themselves as leaders who will champion points, from housing to schooling and local weather, which might be seen as priorities up and down the state.
Chris Lopez, who chairs the coverage group Rural County Representatives of California, is proud to see lawmakers from rural areas lead each chambers of the Legislature. He hopes they go laws to develop broadband entry.
“We know that while the policy may not always go our way, that in the back of their minds, they have considered us, because they have walked in our shoes,” Lopez mentioned.
The final time a lawmaker representing McGuire’s area led the Senate was in 1866, whereas the final Senate leader from a plant farming background was from 1894 to 1903, mentioned Alex Vassar, a legislative historian on the California State Library.
McGuire was raised primarily by his mom and grandmother in Sonoma County, a well-liked wine area. McGuire’s grandmother, who ran his household’s prune-turned-grape ranch, taught him to “work hard, work together” and to “never take no for an answer for the issues that you believe in,” he mentioned.
“At my core, I believe that we have to focus on policies that affect people’s everyday lives,” McGuire mentioned.
McGuire has spoken in broad strokes about wanting to deal with California’s persistent homelessness disaster and proceed the state’s bold local weather objectives, however he and his workforce have been mild on coverage specifics as he prepares for the brand new job.
Policy advocates and fellow lawmakers described McGuire as an trustworthy, hard-working leader who’s keen to hearken to quite a lot of opinions.
Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, a Republican representing a part of San Diego County, mentioned he has a superb working relationship with McGuire.
“I’m making sure that millions of California voices are being heard, and Mike McGuire is very respectful of that,” Jones mentioned. “He’s respectful of our opinions even when he disagrees with them.”
Kristina Bas Hamilton, a longtime labor lobbyist in Sacramento, doesn’t assume McGuire’s management model and politics will differ vastly from his predecessor. She mentioned they’re each “down-to-earth lawmakers that have always been accessible and open doors to conversations.”
McGuire’s clean transition into Senate energy stands in distinction to a chaotic handoff to Rivas from former Speaker Anthony Rendon. McGuire will step into the position with no prior expertise within the Assembly, a departure from a lot of his predecessors, together with Atkins, who was beforehand the Assembly Speaker.
McGuire mentioned he was dismissed resulting from his age when he was first elected to the Healdsburg college board at age 19. At one assembly, a fellow board member patted him on the top and mentioned, “Isn’t he cute?” he recalled.
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“Obviously, that was quite upsetting,” McGuire mentioned. “But I always accept a challenge.”
McGuire later served on the Healdsburg City Council earlier than election to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors in 2010. Supervisor David Rabbitt, who served alongside McGuire, mentioned he can name McGuire up, ask him whether or not a coverage will get handed and McGuire will set sensible expectations.
“For me, that’s kind of a golden type of relationship to have, where we don’t have to kind of play the political games with one another,” Rabbitt mentioned. “I think that actually has been the secret to his success.”
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