There will be no Black women in the Senate beginning in 2021.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has selected Alex Padilla to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by VP-elect Kamala Harris. Padilla will be the first Latinx person to represent California in the Senate, but it also leaves the upper chamber with no Black women.https://bit.ly/2M1UnTJ 

Harris was the second-ever Black woman to serve as a U.S. senator — Illinois former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun served from 1993 to 1999 and ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2004.https://bit.ly/2M1UnTJ 

California Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee was said to be among those considered to replace Harris. “So representation, it really does matter, because the lens by which you look at policies are lenses that others don’t have,” Lee told The 19th in November.https://bit.ly/3awuHc5 

Also on the shortlist was California Democratic Rep. Karen Bass, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. In November, Bass told The 19th there‘s a need to diversify the Senate. “I think that it will leave a vacuum to not have a Black woman there.”https://bit.ly/3hbwTqz 

Padilla, the son of Mexican immigrants who worked as a cook and a house cleaner, was sworn in as California’s first Latinx secretary of state in 2015. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus backed Padilla as the pick for the Senate role. More from @keaux_:https://bit.ly/2M1UnTJ 

California now joins Nevada, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Colorado, New Hampshire and New Mexico as states that have had a Latino or Latina Senatorhttps://twitter.com/latimes/status/1341443665261031424 …

Alex Padilla appointed to the Senate to fill the last two years of Kamala Harris's term @philwillon @mcgreevy99 This will be great news to Latino advocacy groups who argued a state with 40% Latino population should have a Latino senator.https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-22/gavin-newsom-alex-padilla-senate-california-kamala-harris …

With Alex Padilla replacing Harris in the Senate, the number of Latinos in the upper chamber will go from four to six: Padilla, Masto, Lujan, Menendez, Cruz, and Rubio. Number of black women will go from one to zero.

This is long-delayed history made for California. But this also means there will once again be no Black women in the United States Senate as of January 20, 2021.https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/22/us/politics/alex-padilla-kamala-california-senate.html?referringSource=articleShare …

I congratulate Secretary of State @AlexPadilla4CA on his historic appointment to fill Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris’ seat in the United States Senate. Secretary Padilla has a track record as a skilled legislator & a steadfast advocate for justice.

I want to congratulate Alex Padilla -- someone I've known dating back to when he served our city as the youngest-ever President of the Los Angeles City Council.

"It is inexcusable that we would not have full representation in the United States Congress. This should not just be about any one state," Kamala Harris said in her first interview as VP candidate with @emarvelous this summer. my latest for @19thnews:https://19thnews.org/2020/12/alex-padilla-fills-kamala-harris-seat-leaving-no-black-women-in-the-senate/ …

From my August interview with then newly nominated VP-elect Kamala Harris:https://twitter.com/tperry518/status/1341450325463617536 …

"Today’s decision, unfortunately, leaves us with one less woman and now not a single Black woman in the United States Senate, chipping away at decades of progress that have been made to ensure our United States Senate looks like the America it represents.https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/22/us/politics/alex-padilla-kamala-california-senate.html …