Steve Padilla

Stephen C. Padilla, born in 1967, is an American politician. He has served in the California State Senate since 2022.

Before that, he worked for many years in public service in his hometown of Chula Vista. He was on the Chula Vista City Council from 1994 to 2002. Then he became the Mayor of Chula Vista from 2002 to 2006. As mayor, he helped guide the city, which has about 240,000 people.

Padilla has also served on important state boards. He was part of the California Coastal Commission from 2005 to 2007 and again starting in 2017. He also worked with the Unified Port of San Diego as a Board Secretary and Vice Chairman-Elect from 2009 to 2011. In 2016, he returned to the Chula Vista City Council for another term.

Padilla is known for being one of the openly gay leaders in California politics. His career shows his commitment to public service and leadership in many roles across the state.

Early life

Steve Padilla’s father was from Mexico and his mother was from Portugal. After Steve was born, his father joined the United States Marine Corps and went to fight in the Vietnam War. Sadly, he died in a car accident when he returned. Steve’s mother bought a home in Chula Vista and raised her family there. She later remarried, and Steve got a stepfather.

Steve liked being a Cub Scout and a Boy Scout. He later joined the Chula Vista Explorer Scouts. After finishing Bonita Vista High School, Steve became a police officer when he was very young. He worked for thirteen years, helping solve cases to keep families safe and protect children. While he was a police officer, Steve went back to school and earned a bachelor's degree in public administration. He also helped in schools as a substitute teacher for the Sweetwater Union High School District.

City council

Steve Padilla was elected to the Chula Vista City Council in 1994. He was the first person of Latino descent to hold this job in the city’s history, even though the city had many different kinds of people. Padilla was re-elected in 1998.

During his time on the council, Padilla helped change city laws. He worked to stop the easy sale of tobacco in the city. He also improved safety rules for mobile home parks. Padilla helped change how the city planned its budget, choosing to plan for two years at a time. He also asked a board member of the San Diego Unified Port District to step down because of problems with a consulting contract. At one point, he served as Deputy Mayor.

Mayoralty

Steve Padilla became the 38th Mayor of Chula Vista on November 5, 2002. He won against another city council member, Mary Salas. This was special because all the candidates were Hispanic, so Chula Vista would have its first Hispanic mayor. Padilla wanted to help manage growth in the city and improve older neighborhoods. He also planned to make sure developers helped pay for roads before they could build.

As mayor, Padilla worked on big plans for the city's waterfront and helped bring more than 100,000 books to children in need. He also worked to bring a research center to Chula Vista. In 2005, Padilla shared that he was gay, which brought him attention and some new challenges. In 2006, he tried to be re-elected but lost to Cheryl Cox. Some people were upset about how city money was used during his time as mayor.

Post-mayoral career

Steve Padilla served on the California Coastal Commission from 2005 until 2007. In 2011, he tried to join the Chula Vista City Council again but was not chosen by a very close vote.

In 2014, Padilla ran for a seat on the Chula Vista City Council again, but lost by just 2 votes out of nearly 39,000. In 2016, he ran for a different seat and won, becoming the first openly-gay person elected to city office in Chula Vista.

In 2017, Padilla was appointed again to the California Coastal Commission by California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon. He later became the chair of the commission. Padilla was reelected to the Chula Vista City Council in 2020.

Personal life

Steve Padilla is openly gay now, but he was once married to a woman. He told his family about his sexuality in 1999 and separated from his wife at that time. They divorced, and he became the sole guardian of their daughter, Ashleigh. Some people guessed his sexuality when he ran for mayor, but he didn’t publicly say he was gay until 2005.

In March 2020, Padilla tested positive for COVID-19. A week later, he was taken to the Intensive Care Unit at his local hospital.

Electoral history

Chula Vista City Council

Mayor of Chula Vista

^A Barajas got 7 votes as a write-in in the runoff.

California State Senate