Alex Padilla

December 24, 2020: California Governor Gavin Newsom announced he will appoint current California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris. Padilla, 47, will become the first Latino to hold the office after Inauguration Day on January 20, 2021. Padilla was elected Secretary of State of California in 2014 and re-elected in 2018. His earlier career includes becoming President of the Los Angeles City Council at age 28 and later winning two terms in the California State Senate. Padilla earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1994 and worked for the Hughes Aircraft Co.