Growing up in working-class South County San Diego, Steve’s story is the story of so many — achieving the California Dream with community support, quality public schools and a fair shot to succeed.

Steve is passionate about ensuring that same opportunity for future generations. For Steve, this moment right now isn’t just about recovering from COVID — it’s about rebuilding opportunity for all.

A longtime leader in California, Steve Padilla’s priorities are delivering for communities like South County and Imperial County that have been hard hit by the pandemic, tackling income inequality and economic recovery, expanding access to healthcare, strengthening public education, leading on climate, and taking action to combat racial injustice.

Steve Padilla has spent his life in service to others and making life better in his hometown. At 18, he joined the Chula Vista Police Explorer Scouts ultimately becoming a Police Detective specializing in protecting seniors and kids from domestic violence and abuse.

Years later, Steve Padilla made history as Chula Vista’s first Latino and first LGBTQ Mayor, and previously, when he was elected to the City Council, was the first person of color ever to serve in city office. Steve also serves as Chairman of California’s Coastal Commission, the powerful state agency charged with environmental protection and conservation along our coast.

With over thirty years of dedicated service to community, Steve Padilla has built a reputation as a proven progressive leader able to build consensus to tackle complex challenges, including jump-starting Chula Vista’s Bayfront development to create 7,000 jobs in our region; leading state efforts at the Coastal Commission to combat sea-level rise; and helping pass Chula Vista’s COVID-19 eviction moratorium and small business relief programs.

Like so many families right now, Steve knows what it’s like to struggle. He lost his father at an early age and was a single parent to his daughter Ashleigh. And Steve came face to face with prejudice and discrimination when he came out as LGBTQ while serving as Chula Vista’s Mayor.

In March 2020, Padilla was the first elected official in California to test positive for COVID-19 and spent 3 weeks in UCSD Thornton Hospital’s ICU, including 11 days on ventilator. Recovering from COVID-19, and now working to help South Bay recover from this pandemic, has made Steve even more determined to make tomorrow better than today.

Steve is a graduate of Bonita Vista High, and the Southwestern Police Academy. He holds undergraduate degrees in Liberal Arts and Public Administration, and studied law at WSU College of Law. He lives in the Otay Ranch neighborhood of Chula Vista just a few miles away from his amazing daughter Ashleigh and son-in-law Nelson, and his dad Don who still lives in the same family home where Steve grew up.

I was born in Los Angeles but grew up between LA, San Diego and Tijuana as a result of my parents separation and eventual reconciliation.  I graduated from Montgomery High School in San Diego in June, 1985.

I am both a veteran of both the US Navy and the US Army.  I enlisted in the Navy directly out of high school, I attended boot camp and my initial school at Recruit Training Command at the old Naval Training Center, San Diego.  I received an early honorable discharge. I was accepted and enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).  In 1992, I was awarded a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics.  I was the first person in my family to both serve in the military as well as to attend and complete college.  After college, I returned to the military as a Citizen Soldier.  I enlisted in the Army National Guard (California) where I served as a combat medic at a Field Artillery Unit.  I attended and successfully completed Officer Candidate School (OCS) after which I trained as a Transportation Officer and eventually transitioned (per the career path) to become a Multifunctional Logistician.  I have 3 overseas tours including Operation Iraqi Freedom,  Operation New Horizons (Nicaragua) and Operation Rapid Trident (Ukraine).  I also served on the US-Mexico border (San Diego and Imperial Counties) as Safety and Environmental Officer for Operation Jump Start, when the National Guard was ordered to support the US Border Patrol from 2006 to 2008.  In 2017 I retired as a Major having completed 24 years of service.

During college, I was trained as a student travel agent.  This particular job eventually led me into the field of tourism and air transportation both in the military as well as a civilian.  I worked at 2 travel agencies, one at UCLA the other at UCSD.  I also worked for 3 airlines, the vast majority of the time at United Airlines.  My airline specialty was both in automation (where I won several sales awards), airport operations (where I oversaw both domestic and international terminals at LAX) and as an international sales planner at United's World Headquarters in Chicago, IL.  In 2010, I received an early retirement from United.

Since 2006, I have owned and operated my old family business, BPI Plumbing (formerly Benny Plumbing) out of South Bay (having moved our office between Imperial Beach, Nestor, Chula Vista and Bonita).  During this time, I have devoted time to assisting fellow service disabled veterans transition to civilian life, while battling both physical and psychological disabilities.  While I have focused on the pathway to business ownership, my journey helping veterans has also involved mentoring those who simply want to enter the work force.  I have also worked with local schools and training institutes to promote the skilled trades to at risk youth.  My focus on service disabled veterans and at risk youth has been natural.  At different times in my life, I have been both.

I currently live in the Otay Ranch area of Chula Vista with my wife Luz Mireya.

Why am I running?

I made the decision to run for a number of reasons.  I’m running because of my desire to help improve my community and my state, my belief that my personal experiences can be put to use for the good of my community, the desire to be in a position to help facilitate multiple visions for the future and especially because I do not like the way I am being certain elected representative manage things so I’ve decided that given the opportunity, I can do a better job.

To further elaborate, I will say that I am sick and tired of hearing the pundits declare that “California is done and finished.  That California’s become a third world state.  That California’s finished, declaring a number of other states, that shall remain nameless, as superior to California.”  I simply don’t want to believe that.  I love my country but I deeply believe my state will always continue to add to the greatness of our country.  It just needs better stewardship.

Secondly, I am familiar with a number of challenges that exist in our state.  While I worry about them all, there are a few that I believe I could play a very positive role in putting forth an eventual solution as a California State Senator.  I don’t believe that any elected official can solve an issue that took decades to create.  I do believe that elected officials can help facilitate solutions put forth by visionaries, whether they be business, military, labor or educational leaders.  Regardless of our political learnings, if we share the vision of making our state a better place and improving quality of life for all, then I want to have the ability to help make their vision  a possibility.

Finally, I have seen what those that have been elected to represent me are doing and I really am not impressed.  I respect ideas different than mine but when an elected representative assumes office, I expect them to focus on the issues at hand.  I do not expect them to spend the majority of their time focusing on their next elected office.  This is especially typical of a career politician.  People who’ve forgotten what its like to be a constituent.  Those who only listen to those that can assist them in their “next political office” endeavor.  I see this happening, I don’t like it so as I have been asked “what are you doing about it,” my answer is, I’m going to reach out to my fellow voters to seek their blessing to do a better job.