A U.S. representative for 23 years, Xavier Becerra, ’80, JD ’84, split his time between California and D.C. This year he’s back in his home state, serving as California’s new attorney general. In 2016, Becerra had just bid to become the lead Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee when Gov. Jerry Brown asked him to fill the position recently vacated by Sen. Kamala Harris. In January, Becerra was confirmed and sworn in, becoming the first Latino to hold the office.
“I’m deeply grateful,” he told the state senate upon its confirmation vote. “I couldn’t ask for a better job.”
The son of Mexican immigrants, Becerra was the first in his family to attend college, and he credits Stanford with “opening my eyes to real opportunity, in that open-ended sense.” That experience crystallized his desire to extend and protect similar opportunities for others. He’s expected to be a national figure in debates about immigration and environmental policy, and he hopes to lead California in cybersecurity and consumer protection.
