Senator Michael Padilla Contact information

Michael Padilla (born June 13, 1972 in Albuquerque, New Mexico) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the New Mexico Senate representing District 14 since January 15, 2013. Padilla is the Senate Majority Whip.

Early Life and Education: Padilla grew up in Los Padillas, a rural farming community that his family helped settle over 150 years ago, and is located inside of the district he represents. He is the youngest of five children. Padilla and his siblings grew up in the All Faiths Receiving Home for Homeless Children and with various family members because his parents were unable to raise them. He graduated from the University of New Mexico and the University of Phoenix.

Career: Before beginning his legislative career, Padilla had been involved in the Democratic Party of New Mexico as a precinct chairman, ward chairman, county central member, and state central committee member. He also served on numerous boards and commissions prior to becoming a senator, including Youth Development Incorporated, Special Olympics New Mexico, Junior Achievement of New Mexico, Association of Commerce and Industry of New Mexico, and the New Mexico Workforce Development Board.

Padilla founded Altivus CRM Solutions, a contact center and consulting firm specializing in building call centers and providing operational consulting services. The company has created over 3,000 jobs in the past sixteen years. Padilla still serves as Chairman and CEO of the company.

Padilla’s primary focuses as a legislator are early childhood education, jobs and economic growth, water management and conservation, science and technology deployment, and child safety and protective services. He serves on nine legislative committees and is the vice chair of the interim Science, Technology, and Telecommunications Committee. Padilla introduced the “Hunger-Free Students’ Bill of Rights Act” during the 2017 regular legislative session, which prohibits any kind of humiliation, discrimination, or punishment of children whose parents did not pay the school lunch fees. The bill was signed into law by Governor Susana Martinez.