A Conversation with US Senator Alex Padilla

Tani Cantil-Sakauye is president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California, where she holds the Walter and Esther Hewlett Chair in Understanding California’s Future. From 2011 to 2022, she served as the 28th Chief Justice of California and led the judiciary as the chair of the Judicial Council—the constitutional policy and rule making body of the judicial branch—the first person of color and the second woman to do so. Before she was elected statewide as the Chief Justice of California, she served more than 20 years on California appellate and trial courts and was appointed or elevated to higher office by three governors. Earlier in her career she served as a deputy district attorney for the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office and on the senior staff of Governor Deukmejian, first as deputy legal affairs secretary and later as a deputy legislative secretary. She holds a BA and a JD from the University of California, Davis.

Alex Padilla is California’s senior senator and the first Latino elected to represent California in the US Senate. He was drawn to politics in response to California’s anti-immigrant Proposition 187. He was elected to the state senate in 2006 and served six years as chair of the State Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Communications, where he was instrumental in developing California’s renewable energy and climate policies as well as expanding access to broadband and modernizing California’s electrical grid. In 2014 he was elected as California’s secretary of state, in which role he led a historic expansion of voting rights and voter participation, established automatic and same-day voter registration, secured $500 million to upgrade California’s voting systems to meet higher security standards, and oversaw the implementation of the landmark Voter’s Choice Act. In 2022, he was elected to the US Senate. His first bill, the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act, seeks to create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who served as government-recognized essential workers in key sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has taken action to cut costs for families, combat the climate crisis, and help thousands of Californians secure millions of dollars owed to them by federal agencies. He currently serves as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, and is a member of the Senate Committees on Budget; Environment and Public Works; Energy and Natural Resources; Judiciary; and Rules and Administration. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He lives in the San Fernando Valley with his wife, Angela, and their three sons, Roman, Alejandro, and Diego.

Gaddi Vasquez has served in leadership posts in local, state, and federal government in a long career of public service. Before retiring, he was senior vice president of government affairs for Edison International and Southern California Edison, one of the nation’s largest investor-owned utilities. Before joining SCE in 2009, he served as US ambassador to the United Nations agencies based in Rome, including the World Food Program and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. He was director of the United States Peace Corps from 2002 to 2006. Early in his career, he served as an Orange County supervisor, as chief deputy appointments secretary to Governor George Deukmejian, and as a police officer for the City of Orange. He has served on the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships, the California Criminal Justice Council, the California Film Commission, and the board of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund. He joined PPIC’s board of directors in 2015; he also serves on the board of directors of the Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts, the national advisory board of the Salvation Army, and the board of trustees of Chapman University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in public service management from the University of Redlands.