The California Assembly has picked its first openly gay speaker.

[Kadie]

Calif. picks 1st openly gay Assembly speaker
By DON THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, December 10, 2009

(12-10) 14:16 PST Sacramento, Calif. (AP) --

The California Assembly has picked its first openly gay speaker.

Assembly Democrats on Thursday unanimously backed John Perez, the chairman of the Assembly Democratic Caucus, to be its next speaker.

Perez will hold one of the most powerful positions in state government. A cousin of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Perez was elected to the Assembly last year.

He was challenged in the speakership race by Democratic Assemblyman Kevin De Leon, a fellow Hispanic lawmaker. The nomination now goes before the full Assembly, but the candidate with the most Democratic support usually wins because Democrats hold a majority of seats in the 80-member chamber.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/12/10/politics/p141553S01.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0ZKQHHQUq

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. Wow. That's astonishing. A first -termer, too.

Assembly speaker used to be mega-powerful in Cal politics. Back in the Jesse Unruh days. Has that changed?


Who IS this guy?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Good news!

K&R

[LiberalFighter]

3. A first termer becomes assembly speaker?

[LuvNewcastle]

4. They have term limits in California.

He'll only be able to serve for three two-year terms.