Senate Republicans Select Senator Bates to Succeed Senate Republican Leader Fuller
Mar 15, 2017
Sen. Fuller, who has served as Republican leader since September 2015, terms out of office in 2018. Elected to the Senate in 2014, Sen. Bates will not term out of office until 2022. 
A social worker by profession with local government roots, Sen. Bates came to public service through her community volunteer engagement. She championed Laguna Niguel’s campaign for cityhood and was elected its first mayor upon incorporation in 1989. In 1998 after serving four terms as mayor and later a Laguna Niguel City Council member, she won her election to represent parts of Orange and San Diego county voters in the Assembly. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed then Assembly Member Bates to the Little Hoover Commission during her tenure in the Assembly. She then returned to local government in 2007 when she was elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
In the Senate, Sen. Bates has served as vice chair of the Appropriations and Business, Professions and Economic Development committees as well as a member of the Environmental Quality and Transportation and Housing committees. She has also served on the Joint Legislative Budget and Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management and several other subcommittees, select committees and caucuses.
With her local government background, Sen. Bates has a long history of supporting the protection of local revenues and land use authority. Her office has always had a welcoming open door to League representatives and a strong concern for city issues.
The League of California Cities congratulates Sen. Bates on her election and looks forward to working with her as the Republican leader.
A social worker by profession with local government roots, Sen. Bates came to public service through her community volunteer engagement. She championed Laguna Niguel’s campaign for cityhood and was elected its first mayor upon incorporation in 1989. In 1998 after serving four terms as mayor and later a Laguna Niguel City Council member, she won her election to represent parts of Orange and San Diego county voters in the Assembly. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed then Assembly Member Bates to the Little Hoover Commission during her tenure in the Assembly. She then returned to local government in 2007 when she was elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
In the Senate, Sen. Bates has served as vice chair of the Appropriations and Business, Professions and Economic Development committees as well as a member of the Environmental Quality and Transportation and Housing committees. She has also served on the Joint Legislative Budget and Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management and several other subcommittees, select committees and caucuses.
With her local government background, Sen. Bates has a long history of supporting the protection of local revenues and land use authority. Her office has always had a welcoming open door to League representatives and a strong concern for city issues.
The League of California Cities congratulates Sen. Bates on her election and looks forward to working with her as the Republican leader.