Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Rusty Hicks

18. Rusty Hicks

The California Democratic Party under the chairmanship of Rusty Hicks is getting back to normal. That is remarkable, really, given that Hicks’ predecessor, Eric Bauman, was forced out amid scandal, and the pandemic hit not long after he took over. Hicks directs the nation’s largest statewide party, with a whopping 10 million Democrats. CDP played an instrumental role in defeating the effort to recall Gavin Newsom, and it is also playing a major role in Newsom’s reelection and the battles for Congressional seats in the November general election. Hicks was the political director for then head of the L.A. County Labor Federation’s leader Maria Elena Durazo. When Durazo was elected to the state Senate in 2018, Hicks replaced her as leader. Hicks, who lives in Pasadena, served as California political director of Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. He was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and attended Austin College, and came to California in 2003. He has a law degree from Loyola.

Updated Aug. 9, 2022