Holly J. Mitchell was sworn in to the state Senate Monday, following a sweeping victory in last month’s election to represent California’s newly re-configured 30th Senate District.
First elected to the Senate more than a year ago to fill the 26th District seat vacated by Curren Price, now a Los Angeles city councilman, Mitchell now returns to the Legislature’s upper chamber for a full four year term.
The 30h Senate District is entirely within Los Angeles County and includes some of the areas Mitchell represented previously, including Culver City, the communities of Beverlywood, Century City, the Crenshaw District, Midtown and Exposition Park.
The newly redistricted 30th SD now includes portions of Inglewood, Pico- Union and downtown, as well as well as South Los Angeles. .
“Now that I am no longer a ‘freshman’ in the Senate, I look forward to maximizing my effectiveness and am grateful that voters of the 30th District have given me the opportunity to do so,” said Mitchell, a Democrat, who had previously served three years in the Assembly where, as in her year in the Senate, she obtained Governor Jerry Brown’s signature on every piece of legislation she put on his desk.
”I intend to continue my efforts to ensure that all Californians, not just those at the top, benefit as our economy recovers – because too many families continue to struggle with poverty and lack of opportunity.
Mitchell will remain among the Senate’s leadership in the new legislative session as a member of its directing body, the Rules Committee, having also served on the Budget, Insurance and Public Safety Committees.
Sen. Holly is also responsible for founding the Select Committee on Women and Inequality. As outgoing Chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, she turns over the gavel to her successor, Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, having led the organization during a significant expansion of its membership and programs and the restoration of its finances to solvency.
Senator Mitchell garnered 67 percent of the vote in the November election, and represents nearly one million constituents.