| Mike Padilla | |
| Office: | Mayor of Topeka |
| Term Start: | January 4, 2022 |
| Predecessor: | Michelle De La Isla |
| Office2: | Member of the Topeka City Council |
| Term Start2: | April 2017 |
| Term End2: | April, 2021 |
| Birth Place: | Topeka, Kansas, U.S. |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Education: | Washburn University (BA) |
Michael Padilla (born 1948/1949)[1] is an American politician who is the mayor of Topeka, Kansas, serving since January 2022. Prior to becoming mayor, Padilla was a member of the Topeka Police Department for 33 years and served one term on Topeka's city council.
Padilla is a second-generation Mexican American. He graduated from Hayden High School and Washburn University. He worked for Adams Business Forms but left the job in 1970 to become a police officer for Topeka's police department.[2]
In 2000, Padilla, then a police captain, ran for sheriff of Shawnee County as a Democrat. He won the Democratic Party's primary election in August,[3] but lost the November general election to the incumbent, Republican Richard Barta. Padilla retired from the Topeka Police Department in 2003 at the rank of major.[2] [4]
Padilla was elected to Topeka's city council to represent District 5 in 2017. In January 2021, the members of the Topeka City Council elected Padilla as deputy mayor.[5] After mayor Michelle De La Isla decided not to run for reelection in 2021, Padilla announced his candidacy for mayor.[4] Padilla defeated Leo Cangiani in the non-partisan election with 60.9% of the vote (9,209 to 5,862) on November 2.[6] He was sworn in as mayor on January 4, 2022.[7]