Accountability file

Record & events

• charge: He was expected to face an intraparty battle with fellow Democrat Leland Yee, but Yee's arrest for felony racketeering caused Yee to abandon the race. (as of 2026-07-18T01:50:49.616Z) — Wikipedia [cc-attribution]
• statement: Padilla said that California would not supply the data. (as of 2026-07-18T01:50:49.616Z) — Wikipedia [cc-attribution]
• statement: Local Republican leadership refused to follow the order and said the boxes were a form of legal ballot harvesting that had been enabled by recent Democratic legislation (which lacked a chain of custody requirement), and were a way to inc… (as of 2026-07-18T01:50:49.616Z) — Wikipedia [cc-attribution]
• investigation: Accusing Democrats of hypocrisy given their widespread door-to-door ballot harvesting in the 2018 United States elections, the state Republican Party later agreed to a set of collection procedures and said a volunteer's mistake of affixi… (as of 2026-07-18T01:50:49.616Z) — Wikipedia [cc-attribution]
• statement: Mayor Karen Bass, then, about six minutes into her statement, said the Republican administration was going to "liberate the city from the socialist and burdensome leadership that this mayor and this governor have placed on this country". (as of 2026-07-18T01:50:49.616Z) — Wikipedia [cc-attribution]
• statement: While he was being pushed to the back of the room, he said, "I am Senator Alex Padilla. (as of 2026-07-18T01:50:49.616Z) — Wikipedia [cc-attribution]
• investigation: I have questions for the secretary" and told security "Hands off, hands off!" Security pushed him out of the room and into a hallway, where several agents held him face-down on the floor and he was handcuffed by FBI Police. (as of 2026-07-18T01:50:49.616Z) — Wikipedia [cc-attribution]
• statement: Padilla was briefly detained, and said he was released only after Corey Lewandowski, an adviser to Noem, ran over, yelling "Let him go! (as of 2026-07-18T01:50:49.616Z) — Wikipedia [cc-attribution]
• statement: Let him go!" Noem said she had a "great" conversation with Padilla after the incident, but that his approach was "something that I don't think was appropriate at all". (as of 2026-07-18T01:50:49.616Z) — Wikipedia [cc-attribution]
• statement: Padilla said she gave "the same old company line that they're targeting the dangerous criminals". (as of 2026-07-18T01:50:49.616Z) — Wikipedia [cc-attribution]
• statement: A post from the official DHS account on X said that Padilla "chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noe… (as of 2026-07-18T01:50:49.617Z) — Wikipedia [cc-attribution]
• investigation: Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, wrote FBI director Kash Patel, asking for the incident to be investigated and to get a briefing. (as of 2026-07-18T01:50:49.617Z) — Wikipedia [cc-attribution]
• statement: On January 18, 2021, Padilla released a statement in support of the Green New Deal and Medicare For All legislation, among other progressive policies. (as of 2026-07-18T01:50:49.617Z) — Wikipedia [cc-attribution]
• investigation: In 2008, Padilla sponsored the bill SB 1770, which would require the Commission on Peace Officer Standards Training (POST) to prepare relevant guidelines and mechanisms for the investigation and reporting of "cases involving anti-reprodu… (as of 2026-07-18T01:50:49.617Z) — Wikipedia [cc-attribution]
• statement: Climate and environment Padilla supports climate action and said during budgetary discussions in October 2021 that "[c]limate cannot be on the chopping block in this or any budget." He supports the Green New Deal and has said that it "of… (as of 2026-07-18T01:50:49.617Z) — Wikipedia [cc-attribution]
• statement: On January 15, 2021, he said that he supports legislation sponsored by representative Joaquin Castro to speed up the citizenship process for undocumented immigrants in essential jobs, declaring that because of the work they do, "they des… (as of 2026-07-18T01:50:49.617Z) — Wikipedia [cc-attribution]