Healdsburg Senator Mike McGuire Is Having a Real Moment

Healdsburg’s most ambitious local boy is all grown up and stepping into the leading role of the California State Senate, called “president pro tempore.” Mike McGuire, now 44, was sworn into office Monday “with his right hand raised and his left holding his two-year-old son,” the Press Democrat reports — which does really capture the dude’s signature multitasking essence. The Sacramento Bee and the Los Angeles Times both published great pieces on his big moment this week. Mike “brings an ‘Energizer bunny’ work ethic” to his important new job, writes the Bee. Which again is funny, because I remember we used to call him that as he hopped between floats and sidewalk parties in our annual FFA parade, back when he was serving on Healdsburg’s school board and City Council — a natural-born pol. The Times has a similar take. “Mike McGuire is everywhere,” their headline reads. “Can he harness his energy as California’s new Senate leader?” The piece begins by detailing a frenetic day in the life of Mike: “On a foggy January morning in his hometown nestled in Northern California wine country, state Sen. Mike McGuire was at an elementary school doing a dance called the ‘wheelbarrow’ and explaining insurance policy to children who were more eager to talk about their 4-H pigs. The Sonoma County Democrat then rushed off, driving past rolling green hills and dewy vineyards, to have coffee with firefighters who are banking on him to help a region that has been repeatedly devastated by wildfires and often feels overlooked by state leaders. At the Healdsburg Fire Department, a staffer struggled to get McGuire out the door in time so that he could make it to a Chamber of Commerce event three hours north in Eureka. There, he would partake in a hobby perfectly suited to his sense of urgency and penchant for squeezing as much as he can into the time he has: auctioneering.” Congrats on the promotion, bud — we’re proud of you! (Source: Sacramento Bee & Los Angeles Times & Press Democrat; paywalls)