Alex Padilla

Alex Padilla (/pəˈdiːə/ pə-DEE-ə; born March 22, 1973) is an American politician and engineer serving as the junior United States senator from California since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Padilla served as the 32nd secretary of state of California from 2015 to 2021.

Padilla served more than seven years on the Los Angeles City Council, representing the 7th district. First elected in 1999, he was President of the Los Angeles City Council from 2001 to 2006. He then served in the California State Senate for the 20th district from 2006 to 2014.

On December 22, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Padilla to succeed Kamala Harris in the Senate after Harris was elected Vice President of the United States; Harris swore Padilla in on January 20, 2021. His term will end in January 2023. He is the first Mexican American and Hispanic senator from California, the first senator from Southern California since 1992, when John F. Seymour left office, and the first male senator to represent the state since 1993, when Alan Cranston retired.

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