Senator Alex Padilla is serving his first term in the Senate representing the 20th District which includes a large portion of the San Fernando Valley. He is a member of the Senate Committee on Education, which considers all legislative measures dealing with K-12 education and the state’s colleges and universities. He is also a member of the Select Committee on High School Graduation as well as the Chair of Select Committee on College and University Admissions and Outreach and is rumored to be one of two possible candidates to become the next President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

One of Senator Padilla’s key issues throughout his political career has been education. He has helped expand the LA’s BEST after school program; worked with the Los Angeles Unified School District School Construction Team to site and construct new schools in the Valley; was involved in bringing new, state-of-the-art libraries to Valley schools; and led the effort to site and fund the new Children’s Museum of Los Angeles, which was built in an environmentally sustainable manner and will teach environmental awareness to children throughout the region.

In 1999, at the age of 26, Senator Padilla was elected to the Los Angeles City Council and two years later, he was elected the Council President. He served almost seven years on the Council, over which four he presided. Prior to holding an elected office, the Senator had served as staff to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and then-Assemblymember Tony Cardenas.

In 2005, Senator Padilla was elected to serve as President of the League of California Cities. Currently, he serves as Chair of the Los Angeles Leadership Council of the American Diabetes Association, as a Board Member of the Children's Museum of Los Angeles, and as an Advisory Board Member of Meet Each Need with Dignity (MEND).

Following his graduation from the Los Angeles Unified School District, Senator Padilla attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and received a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He is also a graduate of the Coro Fellowship Program in Leadership and Public Affairs. He grew up in Pacoima and now owns a home in the same neighborhood.