SACRAMENTO, Calif. — This story was originally published on CalMatters.
Californians of color are underrepresented among Gov. Gavin Newsom’s appointees last year, accounting for 39% while white appointees make up 52%, according to an analysis to be released today.
The report is from the nonprofit advocacy group Hispanas Organized for Political Equality, which analyzed all 480 of Newsom’s appointments between Jan. 1 and Dec. 15, 2023.
While 47% of the appointees are female — reflecting the gender makeup of California’s population — the pool is less diverse racially. Latinos account for 40% of the state’s population but just 17% of the appointees last year. Similarly, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders make up 17% of Californians but just 9% of the appointees. Black people — 6% of California’s population — account for 11% of all appointees.
Almost one in three appointees are white men, the study shows.
A similar study conducted by UCLA’s Latino Policy and Politics Institute found that, as of March 2022, Latinos were the most underrepresented among all executive branch appointees, making up just 18%.
The studies mostly rely on race and ethnicity information that is publicly available for every appointee. Helen Torres, CEO of the nonprofit group, said the governor’s office already collects self-reported demographic data from appointees anyway, and publishing it would promote transparency.
- Torres: “These commissioners, a good majority of them, have a lot of power. And we want to make sure that… our elected officials, our commissioners, are also representative of our government and the people they govern.”
The latest report comes three months after Newsom vetoed — for a third time — a bill by state Sen. Monique Limón that would have required his office to publish self-reported demographic data on gubernatorial appointees. The governor said in his veto message that voluntarily disclosed data would not “necessarily accurately reflect the diversity of appointees.”
On the same day, Newsom signed a measure that forces venture capital firms to disclose demographic data on the founders of companies they invest in.
- Limón, a Democrat from Santa Barbara who reintroduced her bill this year, in a statement: “Without a public report to evaluate our progress, gaps in representation will continue to exist. This report reiterates the need for self-reported demographic data to be made available to the public. The work to advance transparency must start in-house.”
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