Xavier Becerra Nominated For California Attorney General

He was not on the short list. It was apparently not even on the long list but he is Governor Jerry Brown's pick for California's new attorney general. Copier Becerra has been tapped to succeed Kamala Harris who was elected to the U.S. Senate. Congressman Becerra is a House Democratic Caucus Chairman and he's the highest-ranking Latino and Congress and would be the state's first at the no Attorney General. Joining me is Ben Adler Bureau chief with capital public radio. Then, welcome to the program. Why is this such a surprise? It's a latest example the trying to predict anything that Jerry Brown does is quite futile. Also I think we've seen the conventional wisdom does not get the media and the political establishment very far. I never sat down to make a list myself. I wasn't trying to figure out if it would be this person or this person. When you stop and think about it, there's a lot of logic to this choice for a few reasons. Tell me those reasons. He knows the federal government very well. He knows the state government quite well. He has served in the California legislature and he served in the California Department of Justice as someone fairly high up. He knows all of these different levels of government and how the different levels of government in our play against each other with different funding sources and programs which will be key because what is largely expected to happen is that California is going to be at the forefront of legal battles against a Trump administration potentially the Republican Congress much the same way Texas led the opposition to President Obama. And so given that, this is a very visible position for him and his knowledge of the state and federal government and of the programs. For example, Medi-Cal which we are hearing potentially could be in for a major overhaul at the federal level as well as the affordable care act. That's a program to get state, federal and the interplay there is vital to making the program work as intended. He will have the policy knowledge as well as a platform to be out there and be the face of this legal challenge expected to be filed from California against the Trump administration. Does the governor usually appoint an Attorney General? Was typical is that the attorney general is elected by vote of the people as the governor and lieutenant governor our. In this case we have Kamala Harris who has just been elected to the U.S. Senate. She will be resigning early next month or next year which he takes office in Washington. It does fall to the governor to nominate a replacement. The nomination goes to both the Senate and the assembly to approve. Will there be a special election to fill hobby or Becerra's seat? Yes there well. Early to mid-next year and that is already setting off quite the scramble. We already know that John Perez has declared his candidacy for that spot. Because he as recently as yesterday have been talking about running for chairman of the Democratic National Committee. It goes to show that when you're a turned out legislator in California, sometimes you're wondering the political streets looking for your new home. And so he's going to run. Others, lots of speculation that Kevin de Leon might run for Congress. If he does that would open up his leadership position in the legislature which will certainly bring a big battle. That is a powerful position also an a platform which to advance one's political ambitions and to stand up if you're a Democrat in California and stand up to the new administration and Congress. I've been speaking with Ben Adler. Ben, thank you.