Assemblywoman Who Cast Key Speaker Vote Has Baby

SACRAMENTO — Assemblywoman Martha Escutia, who delivered a key vote in this week’s battle for control of the state Assembly, has now delivered something else--her first child.

Escutia (D-Huntington Park) gave birth to a son by Cesarean section at 10:11 p.m. Wednesday at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Bellflower. The child, named Andres Daniel Briones, weighed 9 pounds, 11 ounces, and was 23 inches long at birth.

The birth was announced on the Assembly floor Thursday by Speaker Emeritus Willie Brown. Brown said baby and mother are doing fine and quipped that Escutia is anxious to return to work and vote again soon.

Escutia, who had been on maternity leave since early May, was a pivotal player in Monday’s election of Republican Doris Allen as Speaker. Escutia, accompanied by husband Leo Briones, returned to the Capitol by chartered jet to cast a key vote for Allen.

Less than 24 hours after returning home from Sacramento, she went into labor.

“I think we should be calling him the Speaker baby,” Escutia, 37, said in a statement Thursday. “It’s exciting to think that my child played such a vital role in the ultimate outcome of the election of the first woman Speaker.”