Toni Atkins to be sworn in as Assembly speaker on Monday
Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, a Democrat from San Diego, will become the state’s 69th Assembly speaker in a swearing-in ceremony Monday afternoon.
Among those set to be in attendance is Gov. Jerry Brown, who will watch as Atkins takes the oath of office in the Assembly chambers.
Atkins, who was elected to the leadership post in March, will be the third woman to assume the speakership and the first speaker from San Diego. She is also the first lesbian to hold the title; current Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) was the state’s first openly gay lawmaker.
She has called her ascent to the top post in the Assembly “surreal,” alluding to her hardscrabble childhood in southwestern Virginia, where she grew up in a home without indoor plumbing.
After college, she moved to San Diego, where she worked in community health clinics before moving into politics. She served eight years on San Diego’s City Council before joining the Legislature.
She was elected to the Assembly in 2010 and has served as majority floor leader since 2012. She will be termed out of office in 2016.
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