California Democrats reacted with disgust to the shocking allegations of sexual abuse of women and girls by labor icon Cesar Chavez — while Gov. Gavin Newsom broke his silence about the unfolding scandal, saying he was “open” to renaming the upcoming holiday in his honor but would refer to lawmakers.

A bombshell New York Times investigation published Wednesday said that Chavez raped and sexually assaulted two girls who were as young as 12, as well as abusing other women, including his United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta.

The horrifying reports come just days before an annual state holiday honoring the late union leader, Cesar Chavez Day, on March 31. It’s unclear whether the paid day off for state workers, which was proclaimed last year by Newsom’s office, would proceed as planned.

Newsom said at a Wednesday press conference in Alameda County that he was still “processing” the allegations amid growing calls to rename the March 31 holiday after Huerta.

“We’re all absorbing,” he said, adding he was “open” to renaming public memorials such as Cesar Chavez Day in light of the allegations.

“I would support renaming March 31 as Dolores Huerta Day,” Assemblymember Matt Haney, of San Francisco, told the SF Standard.

Rumors of a damaging report about Chavez on Tuesday led to a wave of cancellations of events and other celebrations in his name in Texas, California, and Arizona.

The report, which alleged that Chavez groomed girls starting when they were nine years old and raped one in a hotel room, sparked calls to strip the labor leader’s name from public memorials in Los Angeles and elsewhere.

Officials at Fresno State had already thrown a black tarp over a statue of the disgraced union leader by Wednesday afternoon and Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty said he’s support renaming city facilities “to align with our values.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the reports “sickening” and voice support for Huerta, who co-founded United Farm Workers with Chavez in the 1960s and revealed that he raped her and fathered two secret children with her.

“Dolores and leaders like her inspired so many of us to activism,” Bass said in a statement.

“Real progress requires more than moments of reckoning – it demands sustained action to dismantle social, cultural, economic, and political structures that have hurt women throughout our history.”

Other California Democrats chimed in Wednesday with words of support for Huerta.

Newsom said he and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, are “very, very close” with Huerta but did not know about Chavez’s alleged actions.

Siebel Newsom gave tearful remarks at Newsom’s Wednesday press conference about a “war on women” and later issued a statement: “We must center the survivors rather than protect the legacy and power of predatory men,” she said.

Huerta, who is now 95, wrote in a statement that her “silence ends here.”

“The knowledge that he hurt young girls sickens me. My heart aches for everyone who suffered alone and in silence for years,” Huerta, who remains politically active, said in a statement.

“There are no words strong enough to condemn those deplorable actions that he did. Cesar’s actions do not reflect the values of our community and our movement,” she added.

“The serious allegations involving Cesar Chavez are devastating,” Senate President Pro Tem Monique Límon and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, both Democrats, said in a statement. “The Legislature will always stand with survivors, whose courage in coming forward demands our support and unwavering commitment to justice with dignity.”

Many political leaders in California and nationwide revered Chavez, who co-founded the United Farm Workers in the 1960s and was credited with improving conditions for farm laborers.

“History will judge societies and governments…not by how big they are or how well they serve the rich and the powerful, but by how effectively they respond to the needs of the poor & the helpless,” Newsom wrote on X in 2021.

Of the some 125 schools, parks, streets, and other locations named after Chavez, roughly half are in California — where the leader, who died in 1993, achieved an almost saintlike status in progressive circles.

Former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden lauded Chavez, with Obama appearing at a 2012 event at his national memorial in Keene, Calif., and Biden placing a bronze bust of him in the Oval Office.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi said in a statement, “No legacy is above accountability.”

“It was with great sadness that I learned of the egregious revelations reported by the United Farm Workers about César Chávez. We must listen to the survivors, speak their truth, and uphold the values of dignity and justice in the face of conduct that deplorably betrays those principles,” Pelosi said.

The Republican-led California Hispanic Legislative Caucus called for the state to rebrand March 31 as Farmworkers Day.

“The legacy of farmworkers belongs to families like mine across California—not to any one individual. Renaming this day is about honoring the people who do the work, while being honest about our history,” said caucus co-chair state Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares in a statement.

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