On November 8, 2022, Californians will have the opportunity to once again pick who’ll represent the jurisdiction in the U.S. Senate for the next tenure. Incumbent Senator Alex Padilla will be looking to get the formal endorsement of the people on general election day to not only complete Vice President Kamala Harris’ truncated tenure but also get an additional six-year stretch in the office. While the future holds an abundance of the unknown, right now, several things make Padilla the best man for the job.

To start with, Padilla is the first U.S. Senator from the state to be of Latino origin. Until he came around, the largest ethnic group in the state had never sent a representative to the Senate. But more than this, he’s actually proven himself capable of serving the best interests of the people, completely and honestly.

Before he was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to fill the vacated seat of former Senator Kamala Harris, Padilla served as California’s Secretary of State. In this position, he was instrumental in initiating several measures beneficial to the people of California.

For example, while certain other states were bent on encroaching on the rights of voters by demanding measures like voter ID requirements and banning the sending of ballots by mail, Padilla helped make ballot boxes in the state more readily accessible. Some of the steps he helped support to enhance this was making it so that eligible adults automatically get the right to vote from the moment they apply for a driver’s license and letting 16-and-year-olds pre-register so that the moment they turn 18, they become automatically eligible to vote as well. Similarly, he’s assisted with arranging affairs such that, if a person’s signature on a mail-in ballot envelope doesn’t tally with what’s on record, their counties can assist them with trying to again. In addition to sponsoring these legislations, he has also been a strong champion for California’s election model.

He was also at the forefront of helping Californians do their bit in fighting climate change. To that end, he helped introduce the reusable grocery bags that have become so popular in the state today. In its little way, this ban on plastic carriers has done a lot to reduce the amount of non-degradable refuse that California produces.

With a track record like this, it came as no surprise to anyone that he hit the ground running from the moment that he was appointed senator. In Alex Padilla’s first few months in office, he was critical to getting President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 bill approved and has been a core part of the Democrats' infrastructure plan.

He hasn’t forgotten his plan to make the environment a better place either. One of the very first bills that he wrote was to set aside the sum of $25 billion which would go towards the conversion of the diesel-powered school buses in circulation right now into electric vehicles. This bill which is an off-shoot of the president’s infrastructure plan will also ensure that up to 40% of this funding will be used in majorly nonwhite communities.  Similarly, he has backed the Green New Deal extensively, citing its potential to not only help the climate but also provide jobs as major perks.

All of this and more shows distinctly that this individual isn’t in the running for himself. Rather, he’s genuinely interested in helping the people.

Why not give him the best platform to continue doing his good work? Why not help Padilla make California even better than it is?

It’s clear that if the state is to achieve its true potential, it’s men like Padilla who’ll make it happen.

So vote wisely. Vote Padilla.