Michael Padilla (born 1948/1949)^[1] is an American politician who is themayor ofTopeka, 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'scity council.

Padilla is a second-generationMexican American.^[2] He graduated fromHayden High School andWashburn University. He worked for Adams Business Forms but left the job in 1970 to become apolice officer for Topeka's police department.^[3]

In 2000, Padilla, then apolice captain, ran forsheriff ofShawnee County as aDemocrat. He won the Democratic Party'sprimary election in August,^[4] but lost the November general election to the incumbent,Republican Richard Barta. Padilla retired from the Topeka Police Department in 2003 at the rank ofmajor.^[3][2]

Padilla was elected to Topeka'scity council to represent District 5 in 2017.^[5] In January 2021, the members of the Topeka City Council elected Padilla asdeputy mayor.^[6] After mayorMichelle De La Isla decided not to run for reelection in 2021, Padilla announced his candidacy for mayor.^[2] Padilla defeated Leo Cangiani in the non-partisan election with 60.9% of the vote (9,209 to 5,862) on November 2.^[5] He was sworn in as mayor on January 4, 2022.^[7]

• 21st-century mayors of places in Kansas
• American police officers
• American politicians of Mexican descent
• Hispanic and Latino American city council members
• Hispanic and Latino American mayors
• Law enforcement officials from Kansas
• Kansas city council members
• Kansas Democrats
• Living people
• Mayors of Topeka, Kansas
• Washburn University alumni

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from March 2022
• Year of birth missing (living people)