Posts Tagged: freshman

Time machine: Kevin McCarthy, Rookie of the Year

Former state Assemblyman Kevin McCarthy, from the August 2004 California Journal. (Illustration: Tim Foster)

by A.G. BlOCK posted 10.01.2015

The most difficult job in the Legislature is that of an Assembly rookie. Mastering Sacramento is learning curve is akin to scaling Mount Everest, where the summit is shrouded in a fog of policy and politics and the climb must begin even before one is sworn into office. It must be made with a minimum of missteps, and there are few veterans to help show the way.

In title, Assemblyman Ken Cooley is a freshman lawmaker, one of a new crop of legislators in the historic class of 2012.

In fact, he’s no stranger to the Capitol: Cooley, a Democrat, served nearly eight years as the late Assemblyman Lou “The Enforcer” Papan’s senior aide (Papan ran the Rules Committee with an