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Gov. Gavin Newsom designated Antonio Villaraigosa as California's new infrastructure czar. A nonprofit is paying the former Los Angeles mayor $175,000 for five months of work advising the governor.
California s Alex Padilla brings rare Senate perspective - an immigrant family s struggle for dignity
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New Democratic Sens. Alex Padilla, D-Calif. (left), who took the seat vacated by Vice President Kamala Harris, John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., and Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M.J. Scott Applewhite / Associated PressShow MoreShow Less
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Like many California Latinos of his generation, Sen. Alex Padilla’s political consciousness was forged by Proposition 187.Justin Sullivan / TNSShow MoreShow Less
Sen. Alex Padilla began to choke up. He was talking about his father, Santos Padilla, an immigrant from Mexico.
The California Democrat was recalling the time he brought his father with him when he was seeking the endorsement of a labor organization during his first run for office. The elder Padilla wasn’t there to provide moral support he was living evidence that the young politician came from a place where the fight for dignity wasn’t an abstract concept.