Northern California Democrat becomes Senate leader. He brings an ‘Energizer bunny’ work ethic

Watch Sen. Mike McGuire on the California Senate floor, and two things are quickly obvious: He’s almost constantly in motion, and he is nearly always wearing a pair of white earbuds.

The Healdsburg Democrat on Monday became one of the state’s highest-ranking, most influential leaders when he was sworn in as Senate president pro tempore, taking over the job from termed-out Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego.

There are few people who talk about McGuire, 44, without mentioning his unusually high level of energy.

“He’s got, like, Red Bull running through his veins or something,” said Sen. Angelique Ashby, D-Sacramento.

Everyone seems to have different theories about the earbuds, even those who have been in close proximity to McGuire. Some say he’s calling his family, others say he’s following proceedings in the Assembly or coordinating with staff.

“He always had his headphones on,” said Sen. Brian Dahle, R-Bieber, who was once McGuire’s seatmate. “I don’t know who he’s talking to.”

McGuire’s “Energizer bunny” work ethic and ability to multitask have helped him as Atkins’ majority leader. He’s spent the past two years counting and cajoling votes and mediating legislative disputes.

McGuire’s new role will bring unique challenges. He must work with Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, and Gov. Gavin Newsom to address a large budget gap. Many senators will be moving on from the Legislature during the next two years — including McGuire in 2026 — because of term limits, meaning he has a short window to get things done.

Then there’s the 2024 elections, which will require him to coordinate fundraising and political strategy. McGuire’s previous Senate leadership roles gave him experience in some of these areas, but he is untested in others.

“McGuire has his talents,” said David McCuan, professor of political science at Sonoma State, who once had the senator in class. “What brung him to this place may not be the same set of talents that he needs to be successful in a time and place where everybody’s looking for what comes next. And the budget is uncertain. And our politics and challenges are so great.”

The senator said his top priorities as pro tem will include delivering a “balanced and on-time budget.” The Legislature must pass the budget for the next fiscal year by June 15, or lawmakers will not get paid. The fiscal year begins July 1.

McGuire also is eager to help move homeless Californians into permanent supportive housing, implement Newsom’s CARE Court program, build workforce affordable housing and tackle climate change.

CARE Court establishes mental health courts to compel treatment for those with severe mental illnesses. Eight counties began implementing their programs by December, and the remaining 50 counties must activate their CARE Courts by Dec. 1 of this year.

“Obviously, coming from the North Coast, making our communities more wildfire safe has to be a continued focus, along with stabilizing the home insurance market,” McGuire said in an interview. “That is something that is a personal passion of mine, as well.”

Becoming a Senate leader

Following the swearing-in, McGuire echoed many of the priorities he shared with The Bee and thanked his family, colleagues, teachers and others in an emotional speech.

“We didn’t come from a family with money or a name, but I took my grandma’s lessons that still stick with me today,” he said. “Work hard, work together and never take no for an answer.”

Atkins on Monday called McGuire “the Senate’s chief negotiator on some of the toughest challenges facing our state.”

“We all know you have the energy and you have the capacity to extend your tireless advocacy for your district to include all of our districts,” she said.

McGuire represents a North Coast district that stretches across seven counties, from Marin to the south all the way to Del Norte on the Oregon border.

He and Rivas, who represents a district on the Central Coast, shift the state’s legislative power center away from their metropolitan Southern California predecessors to rural-coastal areas not known for producing political power players.

So how did a Sonoma County lawmaker end up with one of the most powerful jobs in California?

Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, who helped McGuire build the coalition needed to become pro tem, said having Atkins’ okay to approach others about the role helped significantly. Although McGuire’s name had been mentioned for months, he was able to secure the leadership job within a matter of hours after he made his play in August.

Lawmakers said there were several other contenders, but McGuire emerged as the Senate Democrats’ pick.

“As a guy that used to sell water for a living, it was a lot easier sell,” said Dodd, a former Culligan salesman.

Atkins was willing to cede the pro tem role, as she is running to win the governorship in 2026. Even so, she expressed surprise in August that McGuire was able to consolidate his supporters relatively quickly.

“It took the weekend!” Atkins said in an interview immediately after the leadership announcement. “That’s it — the weekend!”

Photos of McGuire speaking to reporters that day show rural moderate Dodd and urban progressive Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, standing side by side next to him.

McCuan said McGuire is someone who is able “manage both ends of the party, can herd the cats of difference.”

“What you get is a marriage of convenience with a guy who will work hard,” he said. “Because Mike is fundamentally a pleaser.”

Sonoma County roots

McGuire is a respected figure in the Senate and in his Sonoma County community. Few were willing to say anything negative about him, even Republicans.

“I’ve toured his district, he’s toured my district,” said Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, R-Santee. “So we’re building, I think, a very good working relationship, as far as running the house and doing the people’s business.”

McGuire worked his way from local politics to the state level, starting with winning election to the Healdsburg Unified School District Board at age 19. He then served two terms as a Healdsburg city councilman and one term as a member of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.

Voters elected him to the state Senate in 2014.

McCuan described McGuire’s home community as “an area that’s noted for wine and fire.”

During his time in office, McGuire’s district has experienced especially large and destructive wildfires. The 2017 Tubbs Fire killed 22 people and burned more than 36,000 acres in Sonoma and Napa counties. The 2019 Kincade Fire burned more than 77,000 acres in Sonoma County.

Pat Sabo, chair of the Sonoma County Democratic Party, said those affected by the fires found the process of receiving insurance payments to be very slow.

“Sen. McGuire really did spearhead the ability to work with the federal government and the state to get monies here, to get programs here so that we could rebuild lives,” she said.

During another 2017 wildfire, the Nuns Fire, McGuire worked together with a group of local officials to save valuables from a Sonoma County supervisor’s home as flames approached the house.

Sabo, who was also McGuire’s eighth grade teacher at Healdsburg Junior High School, said his “core values” have always remained the same.

This includes his energy levels. They were so high Sabo had an agreement with McGuire that allowed him to go run on the school’s track until he could “come back and be able to sit in my class enough to be able to listen to the lesson and participate.”

“So he’s always had that energy.”

Leading a diverse Senate

McGuire is a white man leading an increasingly diverse state, coming after the body’s first woman and openly-LGBTQ pro tem.

Several senators said this does not bother them.

“We have a lot of LGBTQ members and members of color and women who are in significant positions in the Senate and chairing powerful committees,” said Wiener, a member of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus. “I am confident that Mike’s leadership team will also be diverse.”

“He does represent a part of the state that has never even had that seat in modern times,” Ashby said. “He has experiences, as a dad and as a county supervisor and coming from the North (Coast), that all deserve to be considered a part of representation, too.”

Fatima Iqbal-Zubair, chair of the Progressive Caucus of the Democratic Party, echoed Ashby’s point, saying McGuire’s progressive values and ability to represent underserved areas are valuable assets.

Iqbal-Zubair said there are some lawmakers from underrepresented communities who are “not voting for climate. They’re not voting for criminal justice reform. They’re not voting for basic democracy and rights. So I think that’s a problem.”

Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Merced, who has worked closely with McGuire when she periodically presides over the Senate floor, said one of the main qualities she wants to see from a pro tem is flexibility, with race and gender mattering less.

“I don’t always vote the party line,” Caballero said. And it’s for reasons that I can explain. And as long as you give me the opportunity to explain that, and give me the grace to be able to make decisions that I think fit my district, well, that’s what’s important to me. And not everybody does that.”

McGuire noted the Senate is trending younger and has an increasing number of members who are women, people of color and identify as LGBTQ.

“I’m a big believer of showing up listening, working hard to deliver for communities in Los Angeles County and Del Norte County,” McGuire said.

He added “there are a lot more similarities than differences between urban and rural voters. Californians want a good job with family-sustaining wages, no matter if you live in Eureka or Encino.”

So, what is McGuire listening to in those earbuds?

He said he is taking calls from senators, Assembly members and Senate desk and policy staff, some of whom he meets with at the back of the chamber or in a conference room off the floor.

“I am working to put out fires,” he said.