California is getting a new Assembly speaker. Is he an unlikely leader or a calculating one?

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Robert Rivas tells anyone who will listen that his rise from farmworker housing on the rural Central Coast to Assembly Speaker is wholly unexpected, the California Dream become reality. The Hollister Assemblyman, who assumes the role on June 30, presents himself as a humble, soft-spoken person who fell into the job. But many who have watched the Democrat’s climb from an outgoing high-schooler to a San Benito County supervisor to the holder of one most powerful political offices in the state are not surprised. Throughout his journey, Rivas, 43, has carefully balanced policy...