Alejandro "Alex" Padilla (22 March 1973-) was a Democratic US Senator from California from 20 January 2021, succeeding Kamala Harris.
Biography[]
Alejandro Padilla was born in Los Angeles, California in 1973 to Mexican immigrant parents; his father worked in food service, while his mother worked as a maid. He worked as an engineer for Hughes Aircraft and became a member of the governing board of his alma mater, MIT, before entering politics as a Democrat in 1995 in response to a nativist state proposition which excluded undocumented immigrants from all non-emergency public services. He became a successful campaign manager during the late 1990s, and he went on to serve on the Los Angeles City Council from 1999 to 2006, serving as its President from 2001 to 2006. He then served in the State Senate from 2006 to 2014 and as Secretary of State from 2015 to 2021, and he supported banning plastic bags. On 22 December 2020, a month after US Senator Kamala Harris was named Vice President-elect as the running mate of the victorious Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Padilla to fill her vacant seat, making him the first Hispanic senator from the 40% Hispanic state; his appointment was groundbreaking for the state's large Hispanic community, but some African-American leaders jealously protested his appointment to a Senate seat held by an outgoing Black senator, with San Francisco mayor London Breed calling Padilla's appointment "a real blow to the African-American community." Padilla was seen by many as a technocrat who did not strongly identify with either the moderate liberal or progressive wings of the party. Padilla was sworn in on 20 January 2021.