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A woman in California’s top job — briefly
Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, serving as governor while Gov. Newsom is out of the state, signed a law to extend eviction protections to renters. (Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli)When the vacationing Gov. Gavin Newsom returned to California this week, it marked an end to a remarkable two-week period in the state’s history — the Golden State had been run by a woman. That woman is Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, and she became the first woman in the state’s 171-year history to sign a bill into law — a remarkable fact, given the state’s track record in recent decades of electing women to high office, including constitutional offices, Congress and the U.S. Senate.