Alex Padilla in 2022 CA Senate race
On Budget & Economy:
These aren't stimulus checks; they're basic survival checks
The other thing I want to be clear on is these are not stimulus checks. These are basic survival checks. Folks that don't know where the next meal is coming from, folks that don't know if, you know, they're going to be evicted at the end of the month.
This $2,000 direct assistance is just survival for now, but we're going to need a lot more direct aid for many months, until we get to the other side of this pandemic.
Source: Washington Post on 2022 California Senate race
Mar 23, 2021
On Education:
Expanded after school programs; reduced class sizes
Alex was elected to the Los Angeles City Council as a political outsider at the age of 26. As a councilman, he expanded after school programs to serve 16 schools in his district, worked to reduce class sizes and built state-of-art
libraries and museums in a community that had none. He recruited and retained local jobs and brought more job training programs to the Valley.
Source: 2022 California Senate campaign website Alex-Padilla.com
Dec 23, 2020
On Energy & Oil:
Got state agency to increase use of renewable energy
Alex was elected to the Los Angeles City Council as a political outsider at the age of 26. He fought to close and limit the expansion of the landfills that had plagued his community for so long, to clean up local air and water and to
face climate change by requiring the city's biggest polluter, the Department of Water and Power, to dramatically increase renewable energy.
Source: 2022 California Senate campaign website Alex-Padilla.com
Dec 23, 2020
On Energy & Oil:
2006: for solar power, modernizing electrical grid
In 2006, Alex was elected to the State Senate. He passed landmark legislation increasing renewable energy standards, expanding green manufacturing and solar power,
developing clean fuels and modernizing the electrical grid.
Source: 2022 California Senate campaign website Alex-Padilla.com
Dec 23, 2020
On Free Trade:
Urge China to lift tariffs on U.S. wines
Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla joined Sen. Jeff Merkeley in pushing U.S. Trade Representative Katharine Tai and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to lobby China to stop its 54% tariff on American wine. "Vintners that were shipping pallets
worth of wine are now only shipping cases, or none at all, as Chinese consumers turn to wine from other countries," the letter said. China imposed the tariffs during a vicious trade war with the U.S. during the Donald Trump administration.
Source: KPIX CBS-San Francisco on 2022 California Senate race
May 11, 2021
On Government Reform:
Implemented same-day voter registration
Alex has worked to make our elections more accessible and inclusive, while fighting to protect the integrity of our voting systems:- Voter registration is at an all-time high - over 22 million Californians are registered to vote, the highest rate
in 68 years.
- Implemented innovations like same-day registration, online pre-registration for 16- and 17-year olds and automatic voter registration.
- Modernized voting systems to prevent hacking, fraud and manipulation.
Source: 2022 California Senate campaign website Alex-Padilla.com
Dec 23, 2020
On Government Reform:
Gave voter outreach money to consulting firm, not counties
Bypassing the state's regulations that ensure fair contracting, Padilla gave a $35 million "voter outreach" contract to a partisan Washington D.C. based political consulting firm. In an affront to public trust, Mr. Padilla ignored the Legislature's
intended purpose for the money. He spent this money instead of sending it to the counties. As written in the state budget, this funding was supposed to go to local elections officials to administer November's election, not to bankroll a partisan firm.
Source: Sacramento Bee on 2022 California Senate race
Dec 3, 2020
On Government Reform:
Has focused on lowering barriers to voting
Padilla has focused on lowering barriers to voting in California. He's been sued by Republicans who say he's failed to rid voter rolls of dead or duplicated voters. "If you're a Republican, you probably see Alex Padilla as really supporting Democratic
causes. If you're a Democrat, you probably see Alex Padilla is doing what he should be doing, which is expanding the ability of people to easily vote to make sure that the barriers to vote are very low," said Loyola Law School's Jessica Levinson.
Source: KQED San Francisco 88.5 FM on 2022 California Senate race
Oct 12, 2020
On Government Reform:
Supported allowing let 17-year-olds vote in primaries
[OpEd by Padilla]: Allowing those who turn 18 by the general election the right to vote in primary elections will kick start voter education much earlier And when people start voting at a younger age, they are more likely to become higher propensity
voters and be more engaged in their communities.A civically engaged citizenry feeds oxygen to our democracy. Teaching young voters the value of this right and responsibility will show them the power they possess to shape their future.
Source: San Diego Union Tribune on 2022 California Senate race
Sep 17, 2020
On Government Reform:
Reducing city council districts an assault on voting rights
The state's top elections official showed up in Santa Clara to denounce the city's effort to shrink the number of council districts. Secretary of State Alex Padilla said Measure C would unlawfully exclude people of color from representation in their
local government. At a presser hosted by the Council on American Islamic Relations in Santa Clara, Padilla said the initiative echoes the "strategic assault" on voting rights by the White House and GOP-led state legislatures throughout the country.
Source: San Jose Inside on 2022 California Senate race
Sep 17, 2020
On Government Reform:
Vote by mail works in blue states and red states
Alex Padilla condemned Trump's latest tweetstorm threatening to pull federal funding to Nevada and Michigan if they proceed with vote-by-mail drives, calling it Trump's "clearest example yet of using disinformation to try and influence the
November election." "It's particularly appalling because there's many blue states that do a good amount of vote-by-mail, like California - as well as many red states, like Utah," Padilla said.
Source: Politico e-zine on 2022 California Senate race
May 2, 2020
On Government Reform:
Yes to expanding Supreme Court; not sure on term limits
Expanding, in my mind balancing the Supreme Court, absolutely. Anybody who tries to criticize those proposals and tries to reframe it as stacking, stacking is what McConnell and Trump have been doing the last several years.
So yes, it's time to rebalance the Supreme Court. In terms of term limits, I have mixed feelings on that. There are good arguments to be had there.
Source: Washington Post on 2022 California Senate race
Mar 23, 2021
On Gun Control:
2006: Stopped felons from possessing body armor
In 2006, Alex was elected to the State Senate. He passed common-sense gun safety measures
like tracking stolen guns and stopping felons from possessing body armor
Source: 2022 California Senate campaign website Alex-Padilla.com
Dec 23, 2020
On Health Care:
2006: Fought for universal health care
In 2006, Alex was elected to the State Senate. He fought for universal health care, stopping tobacco sales to minors,
fighting diabetes and obesity, expanding patient protections and improving food safety.
Source: 2022 California Senate campaign website Alex-Padilla.com
Dec 23, 2020
On Health Care:
We've got to better support our health care infrastructure
I'm going to be quickly advocating for not just additional direct assistance to families, direct assistance to state and local governments, including school districts but not excluding--or exclusive to school districts. We've got to better support our
health care infrastructure. Again, you see doctors, nurses, hospitals, community clinics beyond capacity they were built for. We have a lot more support to do to weather the pandemic and then begin to rebuild the economy.
Source: Washington Post on 2022 California Senate race
Mar 23, 2021
On Homeland Security:
Maintain San Diego's Marine Corps Recruit Depot
[On military bases]: "California has a long and rich military history with the Marine Corps that dates back nearly a century," said Senator Alex Padilla. "Each year, San Diego's Marine Corps Recruit Depot prepares over 18,000 Marines to serve our nation
in uniform. It would be a great disservice, not only to our Marines, but to the security of our country, to close this training camp that trains and develops all recruits west of the Mississippi. I am proud to join this important legislation to keep
this critical training center in San Diego open."The San Diego Military Advisory Council, an organization that advocates for the San Diego military community, expressed its strong support for the legislation: "SDMAC strongly supports the Marine
Corps Recruit Depot San Diego Protection Act. While SDMAC also supports the ability of our Service Chiefs to plan for many possible events, we are supportive of efforts focused on keeping the Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) in San Diego."
Source: Sierra Sun Times on 2022 California Senate race
Sep 16, 2021
On Immigration:
Battle over Prop. 187 led to involvement in politics
Padilla never thought about having anything to do with politics. "I learned quickly, both before the vote on 187 and especially after when it passed, that we had to engage and change that trajectory," remembers Padilla. On October 17, 1994,
Padilla marched through the streets of Los Angeles with his family and tens of thousands of others. "I knew that regardless of what happened on election day, I needed to get involved to change the politics."
Source: KCET San Bernadino on 2022 California Senate race
Oct 21, 2020
On Principles & Values:
Son of Mexican immigrants; taught him value of education
My parents, Ernesto and Lupe Padilla, came to California in 1968. They met in Los Angeles, both recently arrived from Mexico. They got married and applied for green cards in that order.
I grew up in the Northeast San Fernando Valley. It was there my parents taught us about the value of education. They taught us that no matter who you are or where you live you can be anything. That's the California Dream I was raised to believe in.
Source: 2022 California Senate campaign website Alex-Padilla.com
Dec 23, 2020
On Principles & Values:
Became a teenage activist on crime, environmental racism
It was the conditions in his neighborhood growing up and the feeling that the Northeast Valley was always overlooked and left behind that awakened Alex's political activism.
As a teenager, he had helped organize neighbors to take back the streets from crime. At the age of 15, he joined his mother to protest environmental racism and demand closure of the Lopez Canyon Landfill.
Source: 2022 California Senate campaign website Alex-Padilla.com
Dec 23, 2020
On Principles & Values:
Dedicated to having as an inclusive democracy as possible
Padilla sees his life as a "full circle": "I started off as a young man trying to organize, to register people to vote to today, where I serve as the chief elections officer for the state of California.
If Proposition 187 was an attempt by some to exclude Latinos and others from the California dream, I am dedicating myself to have as an inclusive democracy as possible."
Source: KCET San Bernadino on 2022 California Senate race
Oct 21, 2020
On Principles & Values:
What drives my public service passion are issues of equity
What drives my public service passion since day one is issues of equity. The inequities that I've witnessed as a young Latino growing up in Los Angeles, you know, born in the '70s, kind of raised in the '80s and '90s,
it was not always an easy experience to go through. And really inspired by the movement against Proposition 187, Latino scapegoating, anti-immigrant measure in the state of California.
Source: Washington Post on 2022 California Senate race
Mar 23, 2021
On Technology:
Bill created statewide Earthquake Early Warning System
In 2006, Alex was elected to the State Senate. As an engineer, he fought for the ethical advancement of science and technology.
He authored legislation protecting Californians from discrimination based on genetic information and wrote the bill creating a statewide Earthquake Early Warning System.
Source: 2022 California Senate campaign website Alex-Padilla.com
Dec 23, 2020
On Technology:
Election security is ongoing effort, not once a generation
Padilla has led some of the most robust efforts in the nation to secure voting systems and combat disinformation. "I would advocate fiercely for ongoing appropriations and financial support for election modernization and security,"
Padilla said. "The work is ongoing," Padilla said, arguing that the handful of recent grant disbursements aren't enough. "Election security and integrity is not something you can invest in only once in a generation."
Source: Politico e-zine on 2022 California Senate race
Dec 7, 2020
On Technology:
States run elections, Feds can standardize administration
States run elections, Padilla said, but "there's a strong role for the federal government to play" in improving the process, and "it's not as if Congress appropriating dollars and leveraging policy in the process is unprecedented." Padilla said he'd
embrace this approach, arguing, "A lot of the reforms we're talking about are no-brainers." "We're not talking about federalizing or centralizing elections nationally," he said. "We're talking about standardizing election administration."
Source: Politico e-zine on 2022 California Senate race
Dec 7, 2020
Page last updated: Feb 14, 2023