Steinberg New Senate Leader

Senate Democrats have selected Darrell Steinberg, a Sacramento Democrat, as the next leader of the California State Senate. 

In a closed-door caucus Thursday morning, the liberal, pro-labor lawmaker was picked by the upper house’s 25 Democrats to succeed Senate President Pro Tempore Don Perata, D-Oakland. 

Perata’s state political career ends this year because of the defeat of the term limits initiative, Proposition 93, on Tuesday’s ballot. 

The official vote for Steinberg will take place August 21. He became the consensus candidate after Sen. Alex Padilla, a Los Angeles Democrat, abandoned his bid for the post. 

Stenberg, 48, was elected to the Assembly in 1998 and came to the Senate in 2006 allowing him the possibility of leading the 40-member body until 2014. 

An affable problem-solver with a genuine commitment to helping the state’s least fortunate, Steinberg currently is chair of the Senate Natural Resources Committee.

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