Kevin de León | |
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President pro tempore of the California Senate | |
Assumed office October 15, 2014 |
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Governor | Jerry Brown |
Preceded by | Darrell Steinberg |
Member of the California State Senate from the 24th district 22nd district (2010–2014) |
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Assumed office December 6, 2010 |
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Preceded by | Gil Cedillo |
Member of the California State Assembly from the 45th district |
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In office December 4, 2006 – December 6, 2010 |
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Preceded by | Jackie Goldberg |
Succeeded by | Gil Cedillo |
Personal details | |
Born |
Kevin Alexander Leon December 10, 1966 San Diego, California, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Children | Lluvia |
Alma mater |
University of California, Santa Barbara Pitzer College |
Profession | Community organizer |
Website | Official website |
Kevin de León (born Kevin Alexander Leon on December 10, 1966) is an American politician who is currently serving in the California State Senate. A Democrat, he is the current Senate President Pro Tempore.
De León represents the 24th Senate District, which encompasses Downtown and East Los Angeles. Before the 2010 redistricting, he represented the 22nd Senate District.
De León was elected Senate President Pro Tempore on June 19, 2014, and was sworn in on October 15, 2014. A member of the California Latino Legislative Caucus, he is the first Latino to hold that position in over 130 years. Prior to being elected to the State Senate in 2010, De León served in the California State Assembly, representing the 45th Assembly District.
De León served four years as a State Assembly member for the 45th district that included Hollywood, Thai Town, Little Armenia, Historic Filipinotown, Echo Park, Chinatown, El Sereno, Silver Lake, Atwater Village, Mount Washington, Montecito Heights, Highland Park, Glassell Park and East Los Angeles.
Throughout his legislative career, De León focused much of his efforts on bills affecting the environment, the working poor, illegal immigration and public safety. He was instrumental in last year's passage of a bill providing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, and made national headlines in 2012 by proposing a first-of-its-kind, state-run retirement savings plan for low-income workers. He co-chaired Proposition 39 – the California Clean Energy Jobs Act — hoping to create more than 40,000 California jobs, and generate billions of dollars to modernize California schools.