California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon Steps Down

In this Monday March 7, 2016 photo, California Gov. Jerry Brown, left, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, center, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount, are seen after Rendon was sworn-in as speaker in Sacramento, Calif. Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo

California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon will be stepping down on Friday after a challenging position.

Rendon experienced some political turmoil with his fellow politicians in the Golden State.

Robert Rivas, the chair of the Assembly’s agriculture committee, told Rendon he had enough votes to replace him as speaker.

After new members of 80 Assembly districts were elected, Rivas still had enough votes to surpass Rendon, and Rendon agreed to give up the speaker’s gavel at the end of June.

Rendon said he was “very, very angry about it” and said Rivas hasn’t asked him for help or considered offering it.

Supporters of a bill that bans holding killer whales for performance and entertainment purposes applaud Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, center, for pledging his support of the measure, Monday, April 7, 2014, at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

“I have hurt feelings with how things were carried out, for sure,” Rendon said in an interview earlier this month. “I think it was really embarrassing for the institution, the way they acted.”

Democrats control 62 of the Assembly’s 80 seats, leaving Republicans with no say in leadership decisions. Rivas’ transition has been smooth so far as he has hired staff to fill out his office.

Rendon acknowledged his greatest achievement as Assembly speaker during an exit interview.

Though he acknowledged it was a “very local issue,” Rendon cited the lower Los Angeles River redevelopment. “When I flew into LAX my freshman year and saw the redevelopment of the L.A. River on the Los Angeles side and all the cool stuff that was happening… and then the plane moved over to my district, and there was nothing there. That’s part of the California story.”

In 2018 Rendon blocked a bill that would have created California’s single-payer health care system. Supporters of the bill were furious, circulating an image on social media depicting a bear with a knife in its back with “Rendon” written on the blade. But Rendon said the bill was largely symbolic because there was no money to pay for it.

“I hope that set the tone,” Rendon said. “Symbolic stuff is cool. That’s nice. But it’s not what I’m interested in.”

His leadership style led to some “rough patches” with other Democratic leaders.

Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins said she and Rendon found ways “to support our causes and each other.”

“There’s always a different rhythm and dynamic in the Assembly. He had the rhythm. He understood it,” Atkins said. “His knowledge of how the chamber worked is a “tribute to his style and that it meshed with the members in that House.”

Rendon said he “put up with a lot of s–t,” like any manager.

“I removed some chairs from people and those types of things. But there’s a lot of game-playing politics and a lot of game-playing in the world,“ he said. ”I always wanted to be forgiving and provide people with opportunities for redemption. And I don’t always know that I was quick to punish as I should have. Pretty honest answer, wasn’t it?”

Nick Miller, Rivas’ communications director, thanked Rendon for his service but also said Rivas’s appointment by the Democratic caucus to be the next speaker was unanimous.

“We thank Anthony Rendon for his leadership,” Miller said.

Rendon says he plans to stay in office after he steps down as speaker. He’ll author legislation and attend committee hearings, but he won’t attend caucus meetings, he said, because he wants to give Rivas space to lead.

“What diversity does is it brings new people to those desks and new perspectives to those desks,” Rendon said during a Wednesday event hosted by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. “People pushing those buttons have been through very different experiences.”

“That minimizes and makes it less weird,” he added.

He’s eyeing a run for state treasurer in 2026, saying his experience crafting budgets in the state Legislature “would be really helpful there.”

“I’ve spent a decade figuring out state politics, state government,” he said. “I think I have a bead on it now.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.