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State senate eyes a leadership change
Photo by Tim Foster, Capitol WeeklyTensions are running high in the state legislature’s upper house this weekend as lawmakers assess a potential leadership fight. Two senators are said to be preparing a run at Senate leader Mike McGuire, who has served as the Senate president pro tem for just under 18 months. A vote could come as early as next week.
If successful, the move to oust McGuire would mark the third legislative leadership change in less than two years. Hollister Democrat Robert Rivas was sworn in as Assembly Speaker on June 30, 2023 after a grueling, months-long battle with former Speaker Anthony Rendon.
McGuire, a North Coast Democrat, was first elected to the Senate in 2014, and will be termed out next year. He was announced as the successor to Sen. Toni Atkins as Senate leader in August 2023 after a “weekend of political wrangling.” Atkins, a San Diego Democrat, held the office nearly six years before handing the gavel to McGuire in February 2024.
Prior to his election to the Senate, McGuire served on the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors from 2011 – 2014 and he is currently fundraising for a run for California State Insurance Commissioner in 2026.
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So who is making the run to oust him. Kind of disappointing you didn’t say. That matters.