U.S. Senator
Alex Padilla
Senator Alex Padilla is the proud son of
Mexican immigrants, his father a
short-order cook and his mother a
housekeeper. Padilla attended Los Angeles
public schools and is a graduate of MIT where
he studied mechanical engineering. After
graduating from MIT, Padilla was elected to the
Los Angeles City Council where he served as the
youngest Council President in Los Angeles
history and provided citywide leadership at
critical times, including serving as acting Mayor
during the tragedy of September 11, 2001. He
was elected to the State Senate in 2006 to
represent the more than 1.1 million people in the
San Fernando Valley. As a State Senator, he
passed more than 70 bills, including landmark
legislation to combat climate change, and
was named as one of Sacramento’s "most
effective legislators."
Padilla was sworn in as California’s first
Latino Secretary of State on January 5, 2015
and was re-elected in 2018, receiving the most
votes of any Latino elected official in the United
States. As Secretary of State, Alex worked to
make our elections more accessible and
inclusive, while fighting to protect the integrity of
our voting systems. In December 2020 he was
appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to finish
the term of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
Padilla lives in the San Fernando Valley with
his wife Angela and their three sons.
U.S. Senator
Ben Ray Luján
On January 3, 2021, Ben Ray Luján was
sworn into office as a U.S. Senator
representing New Mexico. He previously
served as U.S. Representative for New Mexico’s
Third Congressional District and House Assistant
Speaker in the 116th Congress.
Senator Luján grew up in Nambé, a small
farming community north of Santa Fe, bordered by
the Nambé and Pojoaque Pueblos. It was there that
he learned New Mexico values, including hard work,
dedication, and perseverance, from his family
and community.
Since being elected to Congress in 2008,
Senator Luján has championed efforts to create
good-paying jobs in New Mexico, expand quality
health care and protect patients with pre-existing
conditions, preserve our natural resources and
sacred sites, build a clean energy economy, and
uplift the middle-class.
Senator Luján has focused on spurring local
economic growth through a number of legislative
initiatives. His bill to make it easier for local
entrepreneurs to bring their ideas to the
marketplace was signed into law, and he has
written legislation that would leverage New
Mexico’s labs to drive job creation while addressing
tomorrow’s energy challenges.
Recognizing that action on the climate crisis
cannot wait another generation, Senator Luján has
been a leading voice in the fight against climate
change. He has developed bold, comprehensive
legislation to put the United States on a path to
net-zero carbon emissions to combat the climate
crisis and grow the economy. This visionary
plan has earned praise from climate experts,
environmental advocates, and labor groups.
He has also been a fierce advocate for
environmental protection in New Mexico. Luján
helped lead an effort during the Obama
administration to establish national monument
designations for the Rio Grande del Norte National
Conservation Area and the Organ Mountains-Desert
Peaks, preserving some of New Mexico’s greatest
treasures and tourism drivers. In addition, he helped
lead the effort to protect the greater Chaco Canyon
region from harmful oil and gas drilling and
dangerous methane emissions.
Luján is a long-time advocate for New
Mexico’s acequias and traditional lands. He
continually works to ensure funding for these cultural
assets. He also supports rural farming and ranching
by advancing legislation to help food-producing
communities advance entrepreneurship.
Throughout his time in Congress, Luján has
fought to increase New Mexicans’ access to
quality health care, no matter where they live or
how much money they make. He has had legislation
signed into law to bolster the Children’s Health
Insurance Program and strengthen Medicaid and
Medicare. Senator Luján has also worked in a
bipartisan manner to secure millions in funding
to combat the opioid crisis in New Mexico
and increase access to treatment and
recovery services.
Senator Luján has been a champion for New
Mexico working families. He’s fought to raise the
minimum wage, close the gender pay gap, and
bridge the digital divide for rural communities. He
has been an unwavering supporter of women’s
rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and continues to advance
causes important to New Mexico families.
Before his election to Congress, Senator Luján
served as the Chairman of the New Mexico Public
Regulation Commission. As a Commissioner, he
worked with his colleagues to develop a renewable
portfolio standard to increase clean energy
production by New Mexico utilities. He also
advocated for first responders, working to overhaul
the New Mexico Fire Fund so that all distributions
from the fund would go to improving fire services in
New Mexico.
Prior to his service on the Public Regulation
Commission, Luján was the New Mexico Cultural
Affairs Department’s director of administrative
services and chief financial officer.
Senator Luján earned his Bachelor’s degree
from New Mexico Highlands University in Business
Administration.
LS
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