Anthony Rendon represents the 63rd Assembly District, which covers an interesting little swath of southern California that includes the cities of Bell, Cudahy, Hawaiian Gardens, Lakewood, part of Long Beach, Lynwood, Maywood, Paramount, and South Gate.
Rendon has been on the scene in the 63rd since 2012, and that is why his assumption of the speaker role is a big deal. Just past the halfway point of his second term, an assemblymember in years past would have been faced with the grim reality of that third term. That is because between Prop 140 in 1990 and Prop 28 in 2012, you were limited to three two-year terms in the Assembly. Less than half of the speakers in that time held the position for more than two years.
Rendon succeeds Speaker Toni Atkins, who is looking for a seat in the State Senate in the upcoming election. She had been speaker for just shy of two years.
An editorial in The San Francisco Chronicle called Rendon’s ascent an “overdue switch in governing,” and decried the 1990 Prop 140 as “angry gesture that devalued experience and set off a constant musical-chairs scramble as lawmakers hunted for their next political job.”
The L.A. Times noted that Rendon is speaker number 70 for the Assembly, only 8 of which served for more than four years.
Rendon’s policy goals include poverty, oversight, and participation. He said the number of children in poverty in the state is "the single biggest shadow on the Golden State." Oversight focuses would include ramped up legislative oversight, which particular focus on the executive branch. Increased election turnout rounds out his top priorities, as his first assembly election in 2012 saw weak turnout and he has a hard time considering it a clean win.
Stay tuned for more updates on Speaker Rendon and his new role in Sacramento.