Padilla Wins California U.S. Senate Primary, Will Face Meuser on Nov. 8

California Senator Alex Padilla speaks in Los Angeles, Calif., on Nov. 10, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Appointed U.S. Sen Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) has secured his spot on the Nov. 8 ballot after taking a solid lead over opponents in the June 7 state primary election.

Padilla also won the special vacancy election to serve out the remainder of the current Senate term, ending Jan. 3, 2023. He was appointed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to the U.S. Senate when then-Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) left to join the Biden administration in 2021.

In the election for the next six-year Senate term, Padilla earned 56.1 percent of the vote. Meuser came in second, securing himself a spot on the ballot with 12 percent. In California’s jungle primary system, only the top two vote-getters—regardless of party affiliation—wadvance to the Nov. 8 midterm election.

The slate of candidates for the full six-year term consisted of six Democrats, 10 Republicans, four independents, and one candidate for each the Green Party and the Peace & Freedom Party.

Padilla

Padilla is a former Los Angles city councilor and state senator. He served as California’s secretary of state before he was appointed to the U.S. Senate. He has also worked as a campaign manager for several Democratic politicians, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)

He has dozens of weighty endorsements from the California Democratic Party and prominent Democratic leaders: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D), San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D), and U.S. Representatives Adam Schiff (D), Eric Swalwell (D), and Maxine Waters (D). He is also heavily backed by labor unions such as SEIU California, the National Nurses Union, and the California Teachers Association.

Padilla has sought to cut funding for federal immigration enforcement and to boost “social safety benefits” for illegal aliens. The son of working class Mexican immigrants, he has called former President Donald Trump’s border wall “racist,” and has pushed for immigration reform, sanctuary cities and an end to Title 42.

He has also advocated for a more aggressive campaign to get school-aged children vaccinated against COVID-19, claiming the “vaccine is safe and effective for kids.”

Meuser

Meuser, an attorney with Dhillon Law Group, is endorsed by the California Republican Party.

He has assisted in legal battles against COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates and election-integrity related matters.

Meuser blames the Democratic Party’s progressive agenda for the nation’s economic woes, including sky-high gas prices. He has called for government spending cuts to control inflation and has pushed for a balanced budget.

He has promised to keep fighting for parental rights and stands against gender ideology and race-based indoctrination in schools. Rather than learning tolerance, kids are “being sexualized” and “taught to hate” through LGBTQ indoctrination and critical race theory, he said.

Meuser said kids should get back to the real 3Rs: “reading, writing and arithmetic.”