The Democratic Party just ousted the top longtime leader in the California Assembly — and the infighting is getting nasty.
Until Monday, only two politicians had lasted at least seven years as speaker of the California Assembly: A U.S. Navy veteran who was so powerful that people called him “Big daddy;” and a lawyer who was so confident he nicknamed himself the “Ayatollah.”
Now, joining Jesse Unruh and Willie Brown is Democrat Anthony Rendon, a man with no nickname who online search engines often confuse with the third baseman for the Los Angeles Angels. This week, Rendon surpassed Unruh’s record and became the second-longest serving speaker in state history — just in time for him to be ousted on Friday.
He’s reportedly furious about it.
For much of last year, with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom coasting to re-election, Rendon’s status was the source of much of the political drama in California. Over the summer, Robert Rivas — at the time a mostly unknown chair of the Assembly’s agriculture committee — told Rendon he had enough votes to replace him as speaker.
What followed were months of a layered power struggle that played out across elections in 80 Assembly districts. When all the new members were seated, Rivas still had the votes, and Rendon agreed to give up the speaker’s gavel at the end of June.
Rendon said he was “very, very angry about it” — emotions he would process by running every day. He said Rivas hasn’t asked him for help, and he hasn’t thought about offering it.
“I have hurt feelings with the way things were carried out, for sure,” Rendon said in an interview earlier this month. “I think it was really embarrassing for the institution, the way they acted.”
Democrats control 62 of the Assembly’s 80 seats, leaving Republicans with no say in leadership decisions and outside the liberal infighting.
Asked to respond to Rendon’s comments, Nick Miller, Rivas’ communications director, simply noted Rivas twice convinced the Democratic caucus to unanimously choose him to be the next speaker.
“We thank Anthony Rendon for his leadership,” Miller said.
Rendon lives in Los Angeles with his daughter and wife, who owns a consulting firm that recieves money from lobbyist groups.
So Rendon won’t retire yet. He plans to stay in office after he steps down as speaker. He’ll said he’ll author legislation and attend committee hearings, but he won’t attend caucus meetings, he said, because he wants to give Rivas space to lead.
He’s eyeing a run for state treasurer in 2026, saying his experience crafting budgets in the state Legislature “would be really helpful there.”
“I’ve spent a decade figuring out state politics, state government,” he said. “I think I have a bead on it now.”
California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article