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Headshot of Steve Padilla

Steve Padilla

Democrat, State Senate
District 18, Chula Vista
Time in office:
  • Senate: 2022-present

News coverage of Steve Padilla

Bio

Steve Padilla, 59, is a former police detective and chair of the California Coastal Commission. He worked for 13 years in law enforcement first in Chula Vista and then in Coronado, where he was a detective. He served for several years on the Chula Vista City Council, and as its mayor, he came out as LGBTQ. In 2020, Padilla was the first elected official in California to test positive for COVID-19. He would spend weeks in the ICU and 11 days on a ventilator. He has one daughter.

Leader Badges

Assistant Majority Whip Rank Badge

Ideology

Left

Moderate

Right

Bill Activity

0

Of 40 bills:
8 Passed
6 Failed
26 Pending

For this session year, this legislator initiated 40 bills: 8 passed, 6 failed, and 26 are currently pending.

Alignment Meter

See all-time percentage of this legislator’s alignment with any organization based on total votes.

xx%votes: xx

Financials

This feature tracks three sources of money intended to help a candidate win election: 1-Money given directly to a candidate’s committee, 2-Money given to an Independent Expenditure Committee, 3-Money given to a political party. (NOTE: Senators are elected every four years. Twenty of the 40 Senators are on the ballot in even-numbered years, so Senators may do little or no fundraising in the first two-year session of their Senate term).

Election

This display shows money given directly to the incumbent’s campaign committee (NOTE: The industry categories for donors come from Open Secrets, a nonpartisan research organization for campaign finance. Some contributions are “uncoded,” meaning they have not been assigned to an industry sector. As a result, the total for each sector is also an estimate).

No data found for Last Session.

No data found for Last Session.


Influence

There are three categories of donations to legislators after they are elected that encourage a working relationship between the donor and the legislator. The three categories are: 1-Gifts, 2-Travel, 3-Behests.

Giver
Value
Date
Description
Amplify Campaigns$203.55Aug 24, 2022concert at Pechanga Arena
San Diego Community Power$156Jun 8, 2022padres tickets
Ishrani Family$125Jun 3, 2022bottle of wine
Equality California Institute$90.44Aug 8, 2022food/beverage at summit
Karina's Ceviches & More LLC$66Oct 18, 2022food & drink
Equality California$60Jun 24, 2022succulent plant
San Diego Working Waterfront $55Sep 26, 2022dinner
Toni Atkins for Lt. Governor 2026$52.61Aug 18, 2022dinner

Gifts

Legislators are not allowed to accept gifts of more than $10 per month from registered lobbyists. Gifts from any other single source are limited to $590 in a calendar year.

Gift Received Rating
#75/120

This legislator is ranked 75th highest for the amount of personal gifts received.

Hearings

Featured Comments

Below are links to the video and transcript of recent, substantive comments by this legislator in committee hearings or floor sessions.

Preview image for SB 582MIN
Jan 26, 2026

SB 58

Air quality: standard: hydrogen sulfide.

Preview image for SB 3005MIN
Jan 26, 2026

SB 300

Companion chatbots.

Preview image for SB 30018MIN
Jan 13, 2026

SB 300

Companion chatbots.

Preview image for SB 5810MIN
Jan 13, 2026

SB 58

Air quality: standard: hydrogen sulfide.

Preview image for SB 6382MIN
Sep 12, 2025

SB 638

California Education Interagency Council: California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program.

Preview image for SB 46143SEC
Sep 12, 2025

SB 461

State real property: City of Imperial.

Preview image for SB 571MIN
Sep 12, 2025

SB 57

Electrical corporations: data centers: report.

Preview image for SB 3021MIN
Sep 11, 2025

SB 302

Personal Income Tax Law and Corporation Tax Law: exclusions: environmental credits.

Preview image for SB 8641MIN
Sep 11, 2025

SB 864

Tribal gaming: compact ratification.

Preview image for SB 2434MIN
Sep 11, 2025

SB 243

Companion chatbots.

Preview image for SB 3691MIN
Sep 10, 2025

SB 369

Salton Sea: restoration projects: skilled and trained workforce.

Preview image for SB 3882MIN
Sep 10, 2025

SB 388

California Latino Commission.

View All Hearings

District

View of map with yellow overlay for Senate District 18 boundaries.
District 18 is a Safe Democratic District
Democratic Party candidate has a very high likelihood of winning in an election

Previous Election (2022):

Alejandro Galicia
40.2%
Steve Padilla
59.8%
WON

Party Registration

Census Data

Median age0102030

Median age