Karen Bass To Become Speaker of the Assembly

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

According to Capitol Weekly, it's a done deal.

Assemblywoman Karen Bass captured the speakership Wednesday night to replace Speaker Fabian Nunez following a round of closed-door meetings.

Bass, a Los Angeles Democrat and the Assembly's majority leader, received a majority of support in the Democratic caucus to win the job. Nunez engineered the deal that put her over the top. Several legislators, including some who had hoped to be speaker themselves, announced as they left the meeting that  Bass had won.

"She's got it," said Assemblyman Hector de la Torre, D-Southgate, after the final meeting.

Other than a brief few months during the post-Prop. 93 Willie Brown fallout, Bass will be the first female Speaker of the Assembly, and the first Democratic woman overall.  She becomes the 3rd African-American, and the 1st African-American woman.  2008 continues to be a year of firsts.

I also think that Bass and Darrell Steinberg well make an excellent leadership team, though it'll be somewhat short-lived, as Bass is termed out in 2010.  I can't think of many better combinations than this.