| | | | |  | | By Brakkton Booker | With help from Jesse Naranjo, Ella Creamer, Rishika Dugyala, Lara Priluck and Teresa Wiltz
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POLITICO illustration/Photo by AP | What up, Recast family! We want to wish all those who've served a Happy Veterans Day! And thank you for your service. A federal judge in Texas strikes down President Joe Biden's student debt relief program and Chicago-area Rep. Chuy García announces he's challenging fellow Democrat Lori Lightfoot, the city's current mayor, in 2023. First, though, we focus on the Golden State. Sen. Alex Padilla of California is already 22 months into his job. But on Election Day he became emotional knowing he could officially shed the "appointed" label. He made history on Tuesday, becoming the first Latino to be elected to the Senate from California. During his acceptance speech, Padilla got emotional talking about his journey. He spoke of his late mother, Lupe, who spent 40 years as a domestic worker and his father, Santos, a retired short-order cook who joined him on stage. He says they immigrated from Mexico, both in search of the American dream. "It's through their example that I learned the values of hard work, service to others, honesty and integrity," Padilla said to supporters in Los Angeles on Tuesday. "Now without my family, their love, and the support of our community, this night, this victory, would not be possible." | 
Joined by his family, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) waves to the crowd after speaking at an election night party in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. | Jae C. Hong/AP Photo | Padilla, a Democrat, says it's a different feeling than was when Gov. Gavin Newsom selected him to fill the seat vacated by Vice President Kamala Harris. We discuss what, if anything, changes for him now that he's been elected. We also talk about some of his previous jobs, including serving on the Los Angeles City Council, which is currently embroiled in controversy after revelations that several members were heard making disparaging and racist comments about other council members. It led Padilla, and a slew of others, including Biden , to call for the council members to resign. Only one has: former council President Nury Martinez, his high school classmate. He also weighs in on the speculation surrounding Democrats in 2024 and the prospects of Newsom or Harris potentially occupying the top of a presidential ticket.
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This interview has been edited for length and clarity. THE RECAST: I don't think many thought that there was a chance that you would lose this contest. Does it feel different going from an appointed senator to an elected senator? PADILLA: It does. It's meaningful. It was a historic appointment a little less than two years ago in terms of representation — No. 1 — but also to my career and my life in public service. The accomplishment of being elected now by the voters by the people of the state of California — and certainly the stability of a six-year term ahead — feels great. I know the family is looking forward to a better, healthier rhythm and routine than the intense last couple of years. | 
Sen. Alex Padilla and his family cast ballots at a voting station, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in Pacoima, Calif. | Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP Photo | THE RECAST: So what changes for you? What is the priority for the now-elected Sen. Padilla? PADILLA: Well, for starters, it looks like there's a runoff in Georgia. So I'm still crossing my fingers and doing what we can to be supportive of the colleagues that are in races that are too close to call, but I'm feeling optimistic.
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| Every week, we sit down with diverse and influential characters who are shaking up politics. Who should we profile next? Let us know. Email us at therecast@politico.com .
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Georgia will once again play a key role in possibly getting us back to a 50-50 majority, or maybe even getting us to a 51-49 majority in the Senate. That makes a big difference just in how the chamber runs for the next couple of years.
I think we've had a tremendous foundation to build on these last couple of years between the American Rescue Plan, the Infliction Reduction Act, the infrastructure bill — so much investment in core priorities, not just for Democrats, but I think for the people.
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Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), left, and Sen. Alex Padilla confer during a canvassing stop Nov. 5, 2022, in Irvine, Calif. | Ethan Swope/Getty Images | We've got to make progress on immigration reform. So much on the agenda. It's important to get back to work. The election cycle is over, put the campaigns aside and get Georgia done soon enough, and get back to the business in the Capitol. THE RECAST: You mention Georgia going to a runoff. In Nevada and Arizona, vote counting is still going on and those states too will determine which party takes control of the Senate. You've been in the majority your entire time in there, but there's a chance Republicans in the next Congress will be running the chamber. How will that change how you work in Washington? Do you have to adapt your approach? PADILLA: There's two thresholds when it comes to the Senate. First, it's who is in the majority. But also given the filibuster rule that's in place, for now — I'm a fan of getting rid of the filibuster — but to the extent that it's still in place, we need some level of bipartisan cooperation to get things done. That's much better to achieve coming from the position of the majority than the minority. I've been told by some of my colleagues — on both sides of the aisle — because my appointment was just for the balance of the term left by Vice President Harris, that maybe the doors and the opportunity for building goodwill with some members across the aisle will be better once I've achieved that full six-year term. | 
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) left, greets Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) before the start of a Feb. 25, 2021, hearing on Capitol Hill. | Susan Walsh, Pool/Getty Images | So I think we've established the foundation of some relationships with a handful of Republicans. I hope to improve upon that in the years ahead. THE RECAST: That's interesting. You're saying there are some in the Senate that may take a hands-off approach as far as working with you because they're unsure you'll stick around for the long term. As we see with a lot of things, the Senate is not a body that moves quickly when it does not need to. PADILLA: It's an institution designed to be inefficient. And it's very good at living up to that — too inefficient sometimes. So some of these issues that take a long time to sort of negotiate and the goodwill to be built, it's a long-term game. And for someone who comes out of the blue in January of 2021, appointed to fill a vacancy, probably a couple of folks on the other side of the aisle were saying, No. 1, "Who is this guy?" And second, "There's no guarantee he's gonna be around a long time. So why sort of invest in that relationship building?" | 
| Now it's clear. I ain't going nowhere [laughs]. We've earned the next six years or longer, if my wife continues to permit me and support me in this endeavor. THE RECAST: The president this week talked about his willingness to work with Republicans in the next Congress. But he also sort of drew a red line on things like abortion, Social Security and climate change. Are there any issues you feel Democrats shouldn't compromise on? PADILLA: There's a big list. It's a woman's right to choose, acknowledging that climate change is real. One of the first bipartisan pieces of legislation that I introduced was with Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. It was the Power On Act . You know, I saw the ice storms take out the power grid in Texas last winter. In California, every wildfire season threatens our electrical grid. So we wanted to invest, not just in the reliability, but the resilience of the electrical grid because of our changing climate. WATCH: Alex Padilla talks bipartisanship heading into new Senate term
|  | Now if we put climate change in that title, it was going to be a non-starter. Okay, fine, as long as we get the policy right, you know? So it ended up being in the bipartisan infrastructure package . And I consider it a big win. THE RECAST: Let me ask about one of your previous jobs, the Los Angeles City Council. As you're well aware, there's been quite a bit of upheaval in the last couple of weeks after a recording got published. The council president, Nury Martinez, ended up resigning. You've known her for a long time. You were high school classmates in fact, but you said she and the other council members involved, Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo, both need to resign as well. So far those two have resisted those calls. Why did you feel the need to get involved in that?
|  Twitter | PADILLA: Myself, all the way to the president of the United States [made those calls to resign]. Now one of them [Cedillo] is already defeated in his reelection attempt, so it's only a matter of time. The other [de León] isn't termed out this year, so we'll see. But here's my big observation: Just from a macro standpoint, for the last two years, almost since I've been representing California in the Senate, I've seen far too much — not just hate speech and divisiveness in our political rhetoric — but sadly, too often, how it has led to violence in certain areas. And if I'm going to condemn political divisive hate speech when it comes from the extreme right, I have to be consistent. It needs to be condemned.
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Then-state Sens. Kevin de León and Alex Padilla celebrate after lawmakers approved Padilla's bill to ban single-use plastic bags at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, Aug. 29, 2014. | Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo | There is no room in our democracy, in our country, for that kind of rhetoric. THE RECAST: So you're not backing off the calls for Cedillo and de León to step down. But we're also talking about this as the Los Angeles mayoral election remains undecided. And folks are looking to the new mayor — whether it's Karen Bass or Rick Caruso — to turn down the temperature on the council. Does it hurt either of their chances to do that because neither won outright on Election Day and the contest is still too close to call? PADILLA: I don't think so. I'll point to another former job that I had as California secretary of state where we oversee elections. We were always driven by the mantra of: "It's more important to get it right than to get it fast." So if it takes a few more days, even a couple of weeks to finish counting the ballots, to be confident of who is ultimately the winner, then let that process run its course. WATCH: 'It's meaningful': Alex Padilla reflects on Senate election win
|  | But the good news is, whoever the new mayor is, they're not getting sworn in for a few more months. So there's time for both of them in this transition period to start tackling these issues, start unifying people. I supported Karen Bass in her race. I know her tremendous legacy as a coalition builder. I think she'd be great. But regardless of who the ultimate winner is, you can't get anything done in the city of Los Angeles without working with others. THE RECAST: Now that we're beyond the midterms, well almost, there's a lot of looking ahead for 2024. I alluded earlier to President Biden's press conference. He also said he has plans to run for reelection in two years. But that formal announcement will come sometime next year. But that still leaves the door open for Gov. Gavin Newsom, maybe for Vice President Harris to step in and try to run should Biden bow out. Have you given any thought about this centralized power from California perhaps being at the top a presidential ticket in 2024? | 
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, right, talks to Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) during an April 22, 2022, event in Agoura Hills, Calif. | Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo | PADILLA: Honestly, not too much. When I was secretary of state, we worked with the legislators to move up the presidential primary in California to have a bigger say in the nominating process. But now the whole primary schedule is up for debate and possible change on the DNC side. What I'll say is, until Election Day I was focused on my reelection and making my case to the voters of California. President Biden says his intention is to run and my intention is to support him. But right now, all eyes are on Georgia. THE RECAST: Have you given any thought about a possible White House run yourself? PADILLA: The job I'm in, I've been working towards for many years. It's an important opportunity and responsibility that they have on my shoulders here. So, just looking forward to settling in and being as effective as I can. THE RECAST: I'll take note that you didn't say no. So maybe at some point down the line, we can talk about that. PADILLA: Got to talk to my wife about that.
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Happy Friday, Recasters! The end of the work week may be here, but not for many of us at POLITICO. We will keep you updated on the latest vote counts and storylines coming out of the midterms. For now, here are some quick pop news items and pop culture pick-me-ups. WATCH: POLITICO highlights 10 history makers from Tuesday's midterms
|  | CHUY'S RUNNING — Illinois Rep. Chuy García, who once pushed former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to a runoff in 2015, announced he's entering a crowded field to take on current Mayor Lori Lightfoot. POLITICO's Shia Kapos has more . The McConnell Challenge That Wasn't — Former President Donald Trump has been clamoring for Republicans to dump Mitch McConnell as Senate leader, reports POLITICO's Jonathan Martin. It's release day, folks: " Black Panther: Wakanda Forever " is finally with us! You can catch it in theaters pretty much everywhere.
|  | …And Rihanna is officially " Born Again " with a second of her ballads featuring in the movie, following the release of " Lift Me Up ." Spend some time with poet Harmony Holiday's "Grief (Disarmament)," "Graft" and "G/rift" in Harper's . Don't miss this rip-roaring NPR Tiny Desk concert by the Lion King cast. Nostalgia = guaranteed. Brazilian pop music legend Gal Costa has died at 77. Remember one of her majestic performances here .
|  | R. O. Kwon parses the fractured language of Korean American Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's magnum opus, "Dictee," upon its September republication. Stormzy opens up in new, soulful " Firebabe ." The full album drops Nov. 25.
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TikTok of the Day: Lil Nas X Anna Wintour
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