The ‘handcuff incident’ could help Alex Padilla become California’s next governor | Opinion
Good news! Yet another Democrat may enter the race for California governor: Sen. Alex Padilla.
It’s about time, because with former Vice President Kamala Harris and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis out of the running, we’re down to just eight or so (serious) Democratic candidates.
Perhaps Padilla’s entry — which at this point remains unconfirmed — will finally shake up the governor’s race, because so far it’s been uninspiring.
Hardly anyone has hit me up for a donation, the only mailers I’ve gotten at my home address are from Republican Chad Bianco and if there have been campaign stops anywhere near where I live, no one’s told me about them.
Even more pathetic, 38% of California voters are still undecided, according to the most recent opinion poll from Emerson College. Sure, the primary election is nine months away, but by now, shouldn’t we be focusing on the top contenders?
Instead, we’re getting headlines like these: “Californians undecided in governor’s race” and “California’s gubernatorial race remains wide open.”
California’s first Latino senator
Maybe Padilla will close that door a few inches. Based on his bio, he is one of the most — if not the most — qualified candidates.
He served on the Los Angeles City Council, in the state Senate and as California’s first Latino secretary of state. He was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2021 to fill out the term vacated by Harris and was elected in 2022 by a 60% majority, becoming the state’s first Latino senator.
Yet outside of the insular world of politics, he has remained something of an unknown. He’s not a celebrity in the vein of Harris or Gavin Newsom or Bernie Sanders or even Adam Schiff — at least not yet.
The question is, does he have that little extra spark it takes to convince people to vote for him?
Remember the handcuffs
He did give us a glimpse of that back in June, when he appeared at a press conference conducted by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — and all hell (or at least a small chunk of it) broke loose.
Depending on what side of the aisle you are on, Padilla either attempted to ask Noem some thoughtful questions or rudely interrupeted her press conference, whereupon security officers forced him out of the room, ordered him to the ground and handcuffed him. (Noem, by the way, said she didn’t recognize him.)
In the aftermath, Padilla eloquently rose to the occasion: “If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, if this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine what they’re doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country,” he said.
Disturbing as it was, that incident could turn out to be a big break for Padilla’s political career. Up until then, he had led a pretty low-key life in the Senate, not exactly differentiating himself in this crowd of Democrats.
That’s changing.
People may not immediately register the name “Alex Padilla,” but mention the handcuffs and they remember, in much the same way they recognize Congresswoman Katie Porter as “the lady with the whiteboard.”
Speaking of Porter, she has been leading the pack of gubernatorial candidates. According to Emerson College’s Aug. 8 poll, she was at 18%, followed by Republicans Steve Hilton at 12% and Bianco at 7%, with the other Democrats trailing behind.
Porter may have trouble holding onto her lead if Padilla enters, but that’s not the end of her world. A Padilla-Porter runoff in November could be a treat (for Dems, anyway, and this only would happen if a Republican fares no better than third in the primary).
Finally, we would have a matchup between two well-qualified, youngish (both are in their early 50s), dedicated candidates who (hopefully) won’t resort to the same old platitudes and will (again, hopefully) tell us how they would handle issues like immigration, the economy, healthcare, LGBTQ rights, housing, energy, climate change, and of course, Donald Trump.
Not that we should rule out all of the other candidates, but the clock is ticking and those repetitious headlines — Undecided! Wide open! — are getting stale.
It’s time to start narrowing this wide-open race and get down to some serious campaigning.
This story was originally published September 4, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
