Michael Padilla

Michael Padilla^[2] (born June 13, 1972 in Albuquerque, New Mexico) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the New Mexico Senate representing District 14 since January 15, 2013. Padilla is the Senate Majority Whip, having been elected by his colleagues in his 2nd year in the New Mexico State Senate.

Padilla grew up in Los Padillas, a rural farming community, that his family helped settle over 150 years ago, and is located inside of the district he represents. Padilla has been a lifelong member of the democratic party of New Mexico, serving as a precinct chairman, ward chairman, county central committee member and state central committee member. He has also served on numerous boards and commissions prior to becoming a senator, including Youth Development Incorporated, Special Olympics New Mexico, Junior Achievement of New Mexico, Association of Commerce and Industry of New Mexico, New Mexico Workforce Development, and several others.

Padilla founded Altivus CRM Solutions, a contact center and consulting firm, in 2000, and grew the company organically. The company specializes in building call centers and providing a number of operational consulting services affecting people, process, and technology. Padilla still serves as Chairman and CEO of the company.

Padilla is the youngest of five children. His parents, David and Gina Padilla, were unable to raise him and his siblings, so they grew up in foster homes, the All Faiths Receiving Home for Homeless Children, and with various family members. Padilla started working when he was eleven years old, and is proud of the way he was raised. Padilla has twin sons, Aaron and Zach, who are attending the university and have committed to obtaining their bachelors degrees in social sciences.

Padilla's primary focuses as a legislator are early childhood education and intervention, jobs and economic growth, water management and conservation, and child safety and protective services. Padilla was the first freshman senator in his class to move a bill through the legislature in his first year as a senator, and was the first senator in his second year as a senator to move a bill all the way through the senate. In 2014, Padilla was appointed chairman of the science, technology, and telecommunications interim committee.

Education

Padilla attended the University of New Mexico and the University of Phoenix.

Elections

• 2012 Redistricted to District 14, and with incumbent Senator Eric Griego leaving the Legislature and leaving the seat open, Padilla ran in the three-way June 5, 2012 Democratic Primary, winning with 1,065 votes (40.4%) ahead of Representative Eleanor Chavez and former Senator James Taylor;^[3] Padilla won the November 6, 2012 General election with 8,258 votes (70.7%) against Independent nominee Robert Schiller.^[4]

• 2008 Padilla challenged District 11 incumbent Democratic Senator Linda M. Lopez in the June 8, 2008 Democratic Primary but lost to Senator Lopez,^[5] who was unopposed for re-election in the November 4, 2008 General election,^[6] and ran for Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico in 2010, but remained in the Senate.

References

External links

• Official page at the New Mexico Legislature
• Campaign site
• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• Michael Padilla at Ballotpedia
• Michael Padilla at the National Institute on Money in State Politics