A 'nice guy' out to finish first

Sen. Darrell Steinberg is a former labor lawyer and unabashed liberal widely considered one of the nicest guys in the Capitol.

He has also shrewdly positioned himself to become the first president pro tem of the California Senate from Sacramento since 1883, thanks to this week's election results.

A prodigious fundraiser, Steinberg hedged his bets and contributed $150,000 to a ballot measure that would have relaxed term limits in the Legislature and allowed the current leadership to remain in place.

Behind the scenes, the eight-year veteran of the Legislature worked to line up Democratic votes to succeed Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, if voters defeated Proposition 93 – as they did Tuesday.

Steinberg and Sen. Alex Padilla, a Los Angeles Democrat who recently completed his first year in the Legislature, are now the leading candidates to succeed Perata.

The Senate president pro tem sets the agenda and shepherds legislation through the upper house, and oversees the appointment of committee members and confirmation of gubernatorial appointees.

Tim Hodson, executive director of the Center for California Studies at California State University, Sacramento, said Steinberg's selection would increase the region's clout.

"If you're a Sacramentan and you're concerned about levees, you know that with Darrell Steinberg being the pro tem, Sacramento's levee problems are going to be on the front burner," Hodson said. "Think of all the goodies (former Assembly Speaker) Willie Brown delivered to San Francisco."

Steinberg, who lives in the Greenhaven area with his wife and two children, would be the first Senate president from Sacramento since Republican William Johnston held the post from 1881 to 1883.

Three Sacramento residents have become Assembly speaker, but none since Democrat Hugh LaRue in 1883.

According to a timeline set up by Perata, the 25 Democrats in the Senate will vote Aug. 21 on who will run the house when he leaves office at year's end. Both Steinberg and Padilla have agreed to the transition schedule. But the race to nail down the 13 votes needed to win the post officially began Wednesday.

It was a busy day for Steinberg, who met with Perata and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The usually loquacious senator was besieged by media requests for interviews, but declined comment after telling the Capitol Weekly: "It's no secret that I'm going to run for the position and I'm going to run hard."

In a prepared statement released later, Steinberg said he had received numerous inquiries from colleagues regarding his plans.

"At the appropriate time, I will seek the support of my colleagues to become the Senate's next pro tem," he said. "The Senate has one leader at a time."

Padilla was also circumspect but touted his experience as president of the Los Angeles City Council and said he had been encouraged by a "handful" of colleagues to seek the leadership post.

"I know Darrell has been campaigning very aggressively for more than a year, and he has my respect," Padilla said. "But at the end of the day, this is something that will be decided by the Senate Democratic Caucus."

Steinberg, 48, and Padilla, 34, who was elected to the Los Angeles City Council when he was only 26 and became council president two years later, are both even-tempered policy wonks.

After serving six years on the Sacramento City Council, Steinberg was elected in 1998 to the Assembly, where he was the driving force behind the passage of Proposition 63.

The 2004 voter-approved initiative imposed a 1 percent tax on people who earn more than $1 million a year to pay for mental health services. Proceeds have grown each year to $1.5 billion last year.

While in the Assembly, Steinberg carried 31 bills that were signed into law, including measures creating a $200 million reform program for low-performing schools.

Rusty Selix, executive director of the Mental Health Association, has worked with Steinberg for a decade.

"As far as I know, Darrell is the only person elected to the state Legislature with the goal of increasing community mental health services," Selix said. "We've been very fortunate to have someone with his talent working on our behalf."

Steinberg grew up in the Bay Area and graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, and the UC Davis School of Law. He began his career as a lawyer for state employees before becoming an administrative law judge.

After he was termed out of the Assembly in 2004, Steinberg worked in government relations for a San Francisco-based law firm. He also represented the Maloof family, owners of the Sacramento Kings, in negotiations for public financing for a new arena.

All along he was planning to run for the state Senate, which he did in 2006 after Democratic Sen. Deborah Ortiz of Sacramento was termed out of office.

Steinberg will not be forced to leave the Senate until 2014, meaning he conceivably could serve as president pro tem for five years.

Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, admires him despite their political differences.

"He's certainly bright, articulate, energetic and hard-working," Cox said. "But most of all, he's a nice guy."

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• Call Aurelio Rojas, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5545.