Alex Padilla, California`s first Latino senator, on needing to ‘walk and chew gum` in Washington
(World News USA)

By Jennifer Medina, The New York Times As Kamala Harris steps into her role as vice president and out of her Senate office this week, the Democrat Alex Padilla will become the first Latino senator from California, a state where Latino residents comprise 40 percent of the population, and will be one of six in the Senate. Pacoima native Padilla, who has been California`s secretary of state since 2015, is heading to Washington at a time when the country — and California — is deeply mired in the pandemic and a sluggish vaccine rollout. Padilla said last week that it is “very likely” he will be sworn in on Wednesday. His own political career began with immigration activism, and he believes that...