Background
Padilla grew up in the community of Pacoima in Los Angeles and is a graduate of San Fernando High School in the northeast San Fernando Valley.
Padilla grew up in the community of Pacoima in Los Angeles and is a graduate of San Fernando High School in the northeast San Fernando Valley.
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1994.
He serves as the of California after winning the general election on November 5th, 2014 against Republican Pete Peterson, winning with approximately 54% of the vote. He previously served in the California, representing the 20th District after his election to the position in November 2006. Prior to serving in the Senate he served 7½ years on the representing the 7th District.
First elected in 1999, he was elected council president in July 2001 and remained president through December 31, 2005.
Padilla is one of three children of Santos and Lupe Padilla, both of whom emigrated from Mexico before meeting and marrying in Los Los Angeles He earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1994.
After graduation, he moved back to Pacoima and briefly worked as an engineer for Hughes Aircraft, where he wrote software for satellite systems He has served as president of the League of California Cities and was both its youngest-ever president and the first Latino to lead the league.
He currently serves as chair of the Los Angeles Leadership Council for the American Diabetes Association.
Padilla previously was a staff member to United States Senator Dianne Feinstein and California State Assembly member Tony Cardenas. Two years later his council colleagues elected him council president Padilla was the first Latino and the youngest person elected president of the
Alex Padilla was elected to the in 2006 and re-elected in 2010, with nearly 70% of the vote.
He left office on November 30, 2014, after two terms in the body.
California places a two term limit on its constitutional officers, and incumbent Debra Bowen, a fellow Democrat, was unable to run for reelection to the position of, the state"s top elections official On April 11, 2013, Alex Padilla, then a term limited State Senator, announced his intention to run for the position.
Initially expected to face an intraparty battle with fellow Democrat Leland Yee, the latter"s arrest rendered his campaign illegitimate.
Padilla is a former member of the governing board of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the President of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) which has a membership of more than 6,000 Latino officials in the United States. On July 1, 1999 at the age of 26, Alex Padilla was sworn in as a member of the He served as a member of the Appropriations Committee, Business and Professions and Economic Development Committee, Governmental Organization Committee, Labor and Industrial Relations Committee, and chairs the Select Committee on Science, Innovation and Public Policy.
