New Assembly Speaker for 2023
Print this Article | Send to Colleague
After months of discussions, California Assembly Democrats finally agreed on November 10 to a lengthy transition that will see Robert Rivas succeed Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon next summer.
Rivas, a Hollister Democrat, said the Democratic caucus had unanimously voted to retain Rendon, a Lakewood Democrat, as speaker until the end of June, when Rivas is scheduled to finally assume the influential role overseeing the lower house of the Legislature.
Rendon has been speaker since the beginning of 2016, the longest reign since the 1990s, when California voters adopted term limits. He will term out in 2024.
The Assembly Democrats are now expected to vote on December 5, the first day of the new legislative session, to formally adopt the transition plan. Because they hold a supermajority of seats in the chamber, they do not need Republican votes to elect a speaker.
Rivas, who was first elected in 2018, would become speaker on June 30 — at the conclusion of the state budget process and more than a year after Rivas first announced that he had enough support to take over as the Assembly leader.
