Latino Alex Padilla will occupy Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' seat for California in the Senate

Future California Senator Alex Padilla, in Sacramento last 2019.Rich Pedroncelli / AP

California will have for the first time a Latino senator representing the territory in the upper house of the United States Capitol.

Alex Padilla, the electoral authority of California, has been chosen by the Democratic governor of the state, Gavin Newsom, who is responsible for appointing the person who will occupy the seat vacated by the now vice president-elect Kamala Harris.

Padilla, 47, the son of Mexican immigrants, will represent the most populous state in the country in the Senate, with a 40% Latino population.

“I am honored by the trust placed in me by Governor Newsom, and I intend to work each and every day to honor that trust and achieve results for all Californians,” Padilla said in a statement.

"From those who struggle to balance the accounts, to small businesses struggling to keep their doors open, to healthcare workers seeking relief, please know that I am going to the Senate to work for you."

Padilla has worked in the Public Administration since he was elected to the Los Angeles City Council at age 26.

He has been a state senator and has two terms as secretary of state, a figure in the state administration responsible, among other tasks, for managing the elections.

The governor has highlighted his "tenacity, integrity and intelligence" and has assured that he will be "a senator for all Californians."

Padilla will occupy his seat when Kamala Harris resigns, before taking office as vice president of the country on January 20.

Harris's mandate ended in 2022, so on that date Padilla will have to go to the polls.

The appointment of Padilla puts an end to weeks of movements between the various factions of the party in California, a solidly Democratic state, which in recent days had already become an open campaign, with press announcements and public support from prominent figures of the formation.

The progressive sector struggled to impose other candidates, and Newsom came under pressure to replace Harris, who is the only black woman in the Senate, with another black woman.

For Padilla he fought firmly with the group of Hispanic congressmen.

Also the other senator for California, Dianne Feinstein, supported him.

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