San Diego Union Tribune: How Toni Atkins, California's new Senate leader, rose so high so quickly
March 21, 2018
By Luis Gomez
Wednesday is a historic day for San Diego, Sacramento and California politics — and one particular politician. When her fellow state senators swore in Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, as their new leader, Atkins became the first woman to serve as senate pro tempore, the first openly gay state legislator to rise to that position at the state capitol and one of the few to have served as both senate leader and Assembly speaker.