California Assembly picks new Speaker after heated battle. But he won’t start for 6 months

The California Assembly will finally get a new Speaker after a protracted battle that split the chamber’s Democratic caucus. But he won’t start the job for another six months.

After caucusing for more than six hours Thursday, Assembly Democrats voted unanimously to make Assemblyman Robert Rivas, D-Salinas, the next Speaker. First, however, they will re-elect current Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, to open the legislative session next month.

He will serve as Speaker and facilitate the transition until June 30, when Rivas will take over. The agreement will be binding as part of the confirmation vote that will take place on Dec. 5.

Agreement ends speakership fight

The brokered transition ends months of scuffling that began in May when Rivas announced he had enough votes to assume the speakership.

The dispute spilled into the midterm campaign as Rivas supporters created their own political action committee to funnel funds to Assembly candidates who would back the Central Coast Assemblyman for the top job.

An emotional Rivas emerged from the meeting at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center early Thursday evening.

“(I’m) certainly excited for the opportunity and thankful for Speaker Rendon for his leadership,” Rivas said. “And really thankful to have this opportunity to learn from him and to work with him the next six months and to do the incredibly hard work and the exciting work of unifying our caucus for the benefit of the 40 million Californians here in this state. We have problems, and we’re going to be up to the task to solve them.”

Rendon did not speak to the media after the caucus, but he released a statement acknowledging the eventual transition.

“I’m pleased to retain my colleagues’ support to continue as Speaker of the California Assembly and leader of our Democratic Caucus,” Rendon said in a statement.

“I will continue working for the Californians who need it most, and keep putting power in the hands of my members, especially those who are underrepresented,” he added. “I look forward to working with Assemblymember Rivas in anticipation of a smooth transition in 2023. Now, it is time to work together for California.”

Assembly Democrats compromise

A major driver of the deal was an interest in settling the matter before the next session.

“The transition was about unifying our caucus,” Rivas said. “It was about having a plan to succeed the Speaker, Anthony Rendon, and I’m very proud to say that we’ve accomplished that.”

Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, said he made the motion to re-elect Rendon as Speaker and set a timeline for Rivas’s transition.

McCarty said he was an “ardent supporter of Anthony Rendon to be re-elected speaker.” But he eventually came around to a compromise.

“Robert Rivas had a significant piece of the caucus,” McCarty said. “... And there was a desire to have Robert Rivas be a next Speaker at a certain time. So I put forward the motion to re-elect Anthony Rendon but acknowledge Robert Rivas as the designee to take office on the 30th of June.”

McCarty said the end of June was a “natural” time for Rivas to take over, as the budget process will be complete by then.

Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel, D-Woodland Hills, backed Rivas for the speakership. But he and McCarty said members were ready to move on from the competition.

“We needed to put our internal politics behind us so we can do the policy work,” Gabriel said. “And that was a heavy motivating factor for a lot of folks.”

Rivas-Rendon battle

The Assembly Speaker is one of the most powerful jobs in California politics. The leader determines committee assignments, sets policy priorities and has a major role in negotiating the state budget.

Faced with Rivas’ challenge in May, Rendon would not give up the job. A marathon Democratic caucus ended with a joint statement acknowledging Rivas had the support to become Speaker but saying that Rendon should remain in power through the end of the legislative session.

The competition shadowed the midterm election season and split the Democrats’ typical candidate funding streams. Rivas and his supporters created their own political action committee and donated their campaign dollars to candidates who could be swayed to their side.

This kept their money away from the California Democratic Party and the usual funding mechanism it uses to support candidates.

The Thursday caucus brought together 63 Democrats, including some of the candidates Rivas’s PAC supported. With election vote-counting still taking place, only Assembly incumbents and candidates leading their races were allowed to participate in the meeting.

Although there is a chance some Democrats present will not win their races, caucus members still felt confident the agreement would hold through Dec. 5.

This story was originally published November 10, 2022 at 7:11 PM with the headline "California Assembly picks new Speaker after heated battle. But he won’t start for 6 months."