Congressman Appointed CA Attorney General:  In a surprise announcement today, California Governor Jerry Brown appointed Congressman Xavier Becerra to replace Senator-Elect Kamala Harris as the state Attorney General.  Sara Wire and John Myers of the Los Angeles Times report that Becerra served in the California Assembly and spent three years as a Deputy Attorney General before his election to represent the state's 34th Congressional District in 1992.  During his twelve terms in Congress, Becerra rose to become the current Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.  While Becerra has not announced plans for run for the job in 2018, the possibility would be a setback for Democrat  Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, who had already declared his intention to run. In a statement, Governor Brown praised Becerra's public service and said that as AG he will  "help our state aggressively combat climate change."