SACRAMENTO, California — The first time Toni Atkins ran as governor of California, she used her powers to honor the passing of San Diego Padres baseball player Tony Gwynn, while playfully dismissing Jimmy Kimmel’s advice that she “invade Oregon.” ”
The year was 2014, and Atkins — the first lesbian to serve as speaker of the state Assembly — was taking over for former Gov. Jerry Brown, a quirk of the California Constitution that requires governors to put someone else in charge when they leave the state.
Atkins, now the president pro tempore of the Senate, has since been governor a few more times, most recently in July, when she signed three bills into law and joked that she was excited to step into the governor’s shoes again. “although I have better shoes. ”
Now the 61-year-old lawmaker is once again turning her attention to the governor’s office — but this time she’s considering a much longer stay.
“I’m very interested in looking at that possibility” of running for governor, Atkins told The Associated Press in an interview, saying publicly for the first time what many have assumed since she announced she would step down as top leader of the state next year the Senate. . “I’m looking at it seriously.”
The race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom will likely be a Democratic free-for-all that is sure to attract the party’s top talent for the chance to lead the nation’s most populous state and the world’s fifth-largest economy. California voters have never elected a woman to the governor’s office, nor someone who is openly LGBTQ. And a host of other Democratic candidates are also vying to make history.
Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis was the first to formally announce her candidacy, just a few months into Newsom’s second term. Black state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond is also in attendance, along with former Comptroller Betty Yee. Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Filipino, has said he is seriously considering running.
But Atkins relies on her experience to give her an edge. That includes a brief stint as mayor of San Diego, one of the nation’s largest cities. And it also means she’s just the third person and first woman ever to hold both top legislative positions: speaker of the General Assembly and president pro tempore of the Senate, where she negotiated eight operating state budgets and countless major policy decisions took.
“I feel like I’m addicted to responsibility,” she said. “I think experience counts and matters, and I believe I have the experience to continue to contribute in some way.”
California’s top legislative leaders are among the most powerful people in the state, but it often doesn’t feel that way. As they negotiate key policy areas, it’s the governor who gets the spotlight when the deals are done.
That’s especially true for Atkins, who has been a quieter leader than most. During her tenure as Senate leader, Democrats expanded their caucus to 32 of 40 seats — the largest majority since 1883. That majority means there are few incentives to work with Republicans. But Atkins made sure Republicans could get their bills heard in public hearings and even pushed for former Republican leader Shannon Grove to be included in briefings with the Newsom administration.
“She always involved us and there were never any surprises. I didn’t agree with what was going on, but we had input and participation,” said Grove, noting that she and Atkins bonded over their impoverished upbringings and a shared love of country music icon Dolly Parton. “She understands that we also represent a segment of Californians and that we were duly elected and therefore our voices should be heard.”
Atkins grew up in rural Southwest Virginia, where her father was a miner and her mother a seamstress. Her childhood home had no running water, and some of her earliest memories are of walking down a hill with her twin sister to get water from a spring for cooking and doing laundry.
As a young lesbian in Appalachia, Atkins dreamed of moving to California. She got her chance when her twin sister joined the Navy and was stationed in San Diego. Atkins moved there to care for her sister’s young son and never left.
In San Diego, Atkins was the director of a women’s clinic that performed abortions. She was also politically active and helped elect Christine Kehoe to the San Diego City Council. Kehoe hired Atkins to work for her, then urged her to run for her seat when Kehoe was elected to the state Assembly.
“Toni is not the kind of person who wants to be the smartest person in the room. She wants to be the most helpful and effective person in the room. And often she is,” Kehoe said.
Atkins followed her mentor to the state Legislature in 2010, where she quickly found herself in a contentious race for speaker against Anthony Rendon of Los Angeles. Atkins won, but left after two years to run for Senate.
It wasn’t long before Atkins was picked by her colleagues to lead the Senate, forcing her to work with Rendon, who had replaced her as Speaker of the General Assembly. Their relationship was rough at times, but fruitful for the Democrats. Their partnership expanded Medicaid to all eligible adults, regardless of immigration status, and free meals to public school students.
“We had problems, but I think it had more to do with ambition than anything else, and probably to some extent immaturity on my part,” said Rendon, who plans to run for office in 2026 the position of state treasurer. “Toni Atkins is a very forgiving person. I haven’t always been the easiest person to get along with. But she kept coming back and trying to build a relationship.”
Atkins said she is most proud of policies inspired by her impoverished upbringing, including helping implement the federal Affordable Care Act and creating a tax credit for poor families worth several hundred dollars.
Those victories are also part of what drives her potential gubernatorial candidate.
“I see what you can do when you fill that role,” she said. “There’s something about sitting at the table.”