Alex Padilla to replace Kamala Harris in Senate

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the appointment.

Alex Padilla will take the seat of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in the US Senate, becoming the first Latino to represent California in Congress’s upper house.

Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday named Padilla as the future representative of a state where 40 percent of the population is Hispanic.

In 2015, Padilla, the son of Mexican immigrants, became the first Hispanic to serve as California’s Secretary of State.

In a statement, Padilla promised to “work every day to be worthy of this trust and deliver results for the benefit of all Californians.”