SACRAMENTO, California — When California Sen. Mike McGuire takes over as Senate leader on Monday, it will mark the first time in decades that the state’s top two legislative leaders are not from a major urban center.
But McGuire says the issues most affecting rural districts like his — including child poverty, opioid addiction and housing shortages — resonate with the 39 million people who live in the state.
“Everything I just mentioned are concerns of Californians in Eureka and concerns of Californians in Los Angeles,” McGuire said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
McGuire, 44, comes from a family of plum farmers and was first elected to public office in 1998, when he won a seat on the school board in the small town of Healdsburg. He was elected to the Senate in 2014 and has since authored legislation to protect marine life, support cannabis farmers, make cell phone service more reliable during power outages, and combat the effects of wildfires, an issue that hits close to home .
The Democrats’ district stretches from just north of the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border.
McGuire will succeed Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, a San Diego Democrat who recently announced her bid for governor in 2026.
As Senate pro tem, McGuire will be one of the most powerful politicians in California as he helps make decisions about what policies pass through the Legislature and appoints lawmakers to key committees. He will lead the Senate for two years before leaving the Legislature in 2026.
All the while, McGuire will work with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Assembly on the state budget. He will have to weigh the reality of the state’s projected budget deficit of nearly $38 billion against ambitious proposals from his caucus, including a bill from Los Angeles Sen. Steven Bradford to create an agency that would help Black families trace their family history to investigate.
He will lead alongside Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, a Democrat from a rural part of California’s central coast. While McGuire grew up in a farming family, Rivas was the grandson of farm workers.
Rivas, who was sworn into his leadership position in June, said recently that he first met McGuire at a 2010 California State Association of Counties training for new supervisors, while McGuire was representing Sonoma County and Rivas was representing San Benito County.
“We share a lot of the same priorities and experiences,” Rivas said.
Although they come from rural areas, the two lawmakers continue to market themselves as leaders who stand up for issues, from housing to education and climate, that are seen as priorities across the state.
Chris Lopez, chairman of California’s Rural County Representatives policy group, is proud that lawmakers from rural areas lead both chambers of the Legislature. He hopes they pass legislation to expand access to broadband.
“We know that even though the policies may not always go our way, they have us in the back of their minds because they have walked in our shoes,” Lopez said.
The last time a lawmaker representing McGuire’s region led the Senate was in 1866, while the last Senate leader with a vegetable farming background was from 1894 to 1903, said Alex Vassar, legislative historian at the California State Library.
McGuire was raised primarily by his mother and grandmother in Sonoma County, a popular wine region. McGuire’s grandmother, who ran his family’s plum farm, taught him to “work hard, work together” and “never take no for an answer to the issues you believe in,” he said.
“At my core, I believe we should focus on policies that impact people’s daily lives,” McGuire said.
McGuire has spoken broadly about tackling California’s ongoing homelessness crisis and advancing the state’s ambitious climate goals, but he and his team have been light on policy details as he prepares for the new job.
Policy advocates and fellow lawmakers describe McGuire as an honest, hard-working leader who is willing to listen to different opinions.
Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, a Republican who represents part of San Diego County, said he has a good working relationship with McGuire.
“I make sure millions of California voices are heard, and Mike McGuire has great respect for that,” Jones said. “He respects our opinions, even if he disagrees.”
Kristina Bas Hamilton, a longtime labor lobbyist in Sacramento, doesn’t think McGuire’s leadership style and politics will differ much from those of his predecessor. She said they are both “down-to-earth lawmakers who have always been accessible and opened doors for conversations.”
McGuire’s smooth transition to Senate power stands in stark contrast to former Speaker Anthony Rendon’s chaotic handoff to Rivas. McGuire will step into this role with no prior experience in the Assembly, a departure from many of his predecessors, including Atkins, who previously served as Speaker of the Assembly.
McGuire said he was fired because of his age when he was first elected to the Healdsburg school board at age 19. During a meeting, a fellow board member patted him on the head and said, “Isn’t he cute?” he remembered.
“That was obviously quite disturbing,” McGuire said. “But I always take up a challenge.”
McGuire later served on the Healdsburg City Council before being elected to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors in 2010. Supervisor David Rabbitt, who served alongside McGuire, said he could call McGuire and ask him if a policy would be adopted and that McGuire would set realistic expectations. .
“To me, that’s kind of a golden relationship to have where we don’t have to play political games with each other,” Rabbitt said. “I think that’s actually been the secret of his success.”
___ Austin is a staff member of The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: @sophieadanna