SACRAMENTO, Calif., — California’s state Assembly made history Thursday when its Democratic Caucus unanimously voted in the first openly gay lawmaker to the office of Assembly speaker.

John Perez, a freshman lawmaker and Latino Democrat from Los Angeles, is expected to replace the current Assembly Speaker, Karen Bass, in January.

“It’s obviously an incredibly moving experience to have the unanimous support of my colleagues,” Pérez, 40, said shortly after the caucus vote. “I think it says more about California than it does about me – it means that California is a place where everybody has a seat at the table, that we’re a state where everybody brings forward their contributions.”

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– Simon Husted