Trump-Biden transition latest: Trump signs coronavirus relief bill amid pressure

California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom will appoint California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to fill the remainder of Sen. Kamala Harris' Senate term. 

A statement of organization for a Senate campaign was made in his name this morning. Padilla will be the first Latino to represent California in the Senate. 

Newsom said he will "be a Senator for all Californians." 

"Now, he will serve in the halls of our nation’s Capitol as California’s next United States Senator, the first Latino to hold this office,” said Governor Newsom. “Through his tenacity, integrity, smarts and grit, California is gaining a tested fighter in their corner who will be a fierce ally in D.C., lifting up our state’s values and making sure we secure the critical resources to emerge stronger from this pandemic. He will be a Senator for all Californians.”

-ABC News’ Meg Cunningham

Vice President Mike Pence gave remarks at a giant, potential superspreader event in Florida Tuesday that was attended by thousands. 

Pence delivered remarks before the group Turning Point USA, which has been meeting this week at a West Palm Beach convention center. 

Pence told the crowd that, "It’s really is great to be here with so many friends during such a special week in the life of our nation."

"In this season of hope, hope is on the way," Pence said. "And thanks to your president and incredible American ingenuity, under Operation Warp Speed, we have come to the beginning of the end of the coronavirus pandemic. It’s a medical miracle, and a promise made and a promise kept." 

As he has done for weeks, Pence toed the line in terms of expressing support for President Trump’s attempts to subvert the election, mixing ambiguity on Trump’s moves -- and implicit endorsement of them -- with a push to defend Republicans’ Senate majority.

"Come January 5th, we're gonna hold the line in the United States Senate when we re-elect Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue to a Republican majority on Capitol Hill," Pence said, as the crowd chanted "four more years."

He continued, "our election contest continues."

"We're going to keep fighting until every legal vote is counted," Pence said to cheers. "We're going to keep fighting until every illegal vote is thrown out."

Finally, he urged the enthusiastic, young attendees to "stay in the fight in our election" as they chanted, "stop the steal."

-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson

Tuesday marks two weeks until the Jan. 5 runoffs in Georgia that will decide which party controls the U.S. Senate. 

So far, at least 1,678,624 Georgians have voted, according to Georgia Votes' analysis of the secretary of state's absentee voter files, which include data for all voters casting absentee ballots by mail, as well as all in-person early voters. 

Compared to this point ahead of the general election, turnout is down 7%, according to Georgia Votes. 

Of the total votes, 621,098 are absentee by mail -- which is down 21% compared to this point ahead of the general -- and 1,057,526 are in-person early- voted ballots -- which is up 5% compared to this point ahead of the general. 

While turnout is slightly down, nearly 50,000 voters (49,118) who've participated in the runoff election didn't vote at all in the general election, according to Georgia Votes. 

-ABC News’ Quinn Scanlan

President-elect Joe Biden is expected to name Miguel Cardona, who currently serves as Connecticut's education commissioner, as his pick for secretary of education, sources familiar with the decision told ABC News on Tuesday.

Throughout his presidential campaign Biden pledged to select a schoolteacher to lead the department, and Cardona fulfills that pledge, having started his career nearly two decades ago as an elementary school teacher in Connecticut, serving 10 years as a school principal and eventually rising through the ranks to become the state's top education official last year.

"First thing, as president of United States -- not a joke -- first thing I will do is make sure that the secretary of education is not Betsy DeVos, [and that] it is a teacher. A teacher. Promise," Biden, who regularly criticized Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, said at a National Education Association forum in July of 2019.

Cardona's background and deep experience in the nation's education system presents a striking contrast with DeVos, a wealthy, long-time Republican donor and political activist who has drawn sustained ire from Democrats and teachers unions throughout her tenure.

Cardona, whose parents moved from Puerto Rico to Connecticut, would be the third Latino, and the first of Puerto Rican heritage, that Biden has named to serve in his Cabinet thus far, following Alejandro Mayorkas named to head the Department of Homeland Security and California Attorney General Xavier Beccera to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

A spokesman for the Biden transition did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News on Cardona's potential nomination.

-ABC News’ John Verhovek and Molly Nagle.