# State Senator, District 18 Compare records and positions simply between Art Hodges or Steve Padilla for State Senator, District 18 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat in the California State Senate (4-year term). - Jurisdiction: California Legislature - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/state-senate-18 - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: September 24, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 89 out of 100 (Strong), across 10 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Art Hodges** — CEO/Educator/Pastor · Republican - **Steve Padilla** — California State Senator · Democratic · Incumbent Senator Steve Padilla took 63.8% of the June 2 vote and Republican Art Hodges took 36.2%; they were the only two candidates on the primary ballot. The district covers the South Bay of San Diego County and the border communities. The winner holds one of 40 State Senate seats for a four-year term, inside a 12-year lifetime cap on service in Sacramento. Senate districts are twice the size of Assembly districts, terms run twice as long, and the Senate confirms the Governor's appointments. A four-year term means the winner will not face voters again until 2030. The incumbent has the highest bill count in the Legislature this session at 36 authored, with 8 signed into law, and a heavily institutional funding base. His opponent is running on about six percent of the money. The practical question here is what this district is getting from a safe seat over four years. ## Steve Padilla Steve Padilla, a Democrat, is the sitting State Senator for District 18, seeking a second term after his 2022 election (sd18.senate.ca.gov). Before politics he spent 13 years in law enforcement, first in Chula Vista and then as a Coronado detective on domestic violence and child abuse cases. He later served two terms on the Chula Vista City Council and was elected the city's 38th mayor, from 2002 to 2006. He was the first person of color elected to city office in Chula Vista, its first Latino mayor, and the first openly LGBT person elected to office there (sd18.senate.ca.gov). His campaign message is that "if you work hard, you should be able to make it in the Golden State," and he calls his re-election bid a fight to "rebuild opportunity" (campaign site). In October 2023 Governor Newsom vetoed Padilla's SB 619, which would have shortened the timeline to approve and permit electric transmission projects. Padilla called the veto "disappointing" and said: "We simply cannot rely on the grid of our grandparents to power our grandchildren's future" (sd18.senate.ca.gov). He promises to protect homeowners from utility rate hikes tied to data center growth, to regulate AI therapy bots, and to address rising energy costs. His campaign frames these as part of a "Rebuild Opportunity" platform focused on opportunity, safety, and a clearer path to a better life for families (campaign site). **Strengths:** A long record in local government and law enforcement, and a legislative agenda active enough to draw both signatures and vetoes from the governor. **Trade-offs:** At least one of his signature energy bills was vetoed outright, a sign not everything he proposes survives the governor's desk. **Keep in mind:** His most prominent recent legislative loss, a transmission-permitting bill, was over process and timing, not the underlying energy goal; the governor's stated disagreement with his approach was narrow. ## Art Hodges Art Hodges, a Republican, spent 40 years as a pastor. He became a bishop overseeing hundreds of churches, pastors and ministers across Southern California, before retiring from ministry in July 2025 (campaign site; NBC Palm Springs). He has also held CEO and board roles with a children's orphanage, Urshan University, the Salt & Light Council and Revive California. He calls himself a "doer" rather than a "talker" (NBC Palm Springs). By his campaign's account, he led efforts against Governor Newsom's COVID-19 rules on houses of worship, and he says those efforts led to two U.S. Supreme Court rulings limiting the state's power to close churches (campaign site). He says he entered the race because none of his three adult children can afford to buy a home in California, despite their medical, legal and financial careers (NBC Palm Springs). He points to his fight against pandemic-era church closures as his main credential, and he frames his campaign as rooted in "foundational American principles" rather than his ministry (campaign site; NBC Palm Springs). His stated priorities are the sanctity of life "from conception to death," support for biological sex and traditional marriage, religious liberty, and support for Israel (campaign site). He also promises to fix housing costs, citing data that only 22% of households can afford a median-priced home, with a wider gap for Hispanic and Latino households. And he promises to fix the long-running Tijuana River sewage problem that has closed South Bay beaches (NBC Palm Springs). **Strengths:** Decades of institutional leadership experience and, by his own account, a U.S. Supreme Court win against the state's pandemic-era church closures. **Trade-offs:** No record in elected office; his stated platform centers on social and religious priorities well beyond this seat's legislative remit. **Keep in mind:** His campaign frames the race around housing and the Tijuana sewage crisis, but his listed priorities lean toward national culture-war issues rather than state legislative specifics. ## Record in office Art Hodges has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress; these records cover only those offices. Steve Padilla (Democratic) is the sitting State Senator for this district and is lead author of 36 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 8 of them signed into law. Per the California Legislature's public bill data (leginfo bulk download), retrieved 2026-09-21. ## Record details Padilla — SB 867 (2026): Toys: companion chatbots. Padilla — SB 1119 (2026): Companion chatbots: children’s safety. Padilla — SB 243 (2025): Companion chatbots. Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record. ## Financial info - **Art Hodges** - Primary: $40,574 raised (Small donors: $2,668; Individuals: $28,550; PACs & committees: $7,900; Businesses & other orgs: $250; Self-funding: $206) - November: $5,200 raised (Individuals: $3,200; PACs & committees: $2,000) - **Steve Padilla** - Primary: $724,167 raised (Small donors: $180; Individuals: $34,660; PACs & committees: $332,107; Businesses & other orgs: $355,083) - November: $36,800 raised (Individuals: $11,800; PACs & committees: $10,500; Businesses & other orgs: $14,500) Figures are CA Form 460 filings through June 30, 2026 by committees controlled by each candidate, and can include transfers from a candidate's earlier committees. Semi-annual reports covering January–June 2026 were due July 31, 2026, so some totals lag a period behind. Per the California Secretary of State's Cal-Access raw data export, retrieved 2026-09-21. Total is itemized (Schedule A) contributions and self-funding loans dated after the June 2, 2026 primary, through June 30, 2026 — small-dollar unitemized (under $100) contributions aren't independently dated in Cal-Access's raw export, so they aren't reflected here and this may undercount true small-donor activity since the primary. This also doesn't include money reported only on 24-hour late-contribution reports (Form 497) that haven't yet appeared in a periodic Form 460 filing. Per the California Secretary of State's Cal-Access raw data export, retrieved 2026-08-30. ## Review notes - Art Hodges for Senate and Steve Padilla for State Senate may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [CA Secretary of State — Statement of Vote, June 2, 2026 primary (certified 2026-07-10)](https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/prior-elections/statewide-election-results/primary-election-june-2-2026/statement-vote) 2. [Ballotpedia — June 2026 California primary](https://ballotpedia.org) 3. [Art Hodges for Senate — About Art (used for his biography, Supreme Court claim, and platform)](https://www.arthodgesforsenate.com/about-art) 4. [NBC Palm Springs — Retired Pastor Challenges Incumbent for California's 18th State Senate District Seat (used for his motivation quote and housing/sewage priorities)](https://www.nbcpalmsprings.com/2026/05/15/retired-pastor-challenges-incumbent-for-californias-18th-state-senate-district-seat) 5. [California State Senator Steve Padilla — official biography (used for his pre-Senate career)](https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/biography) 6. [Steve Padilla for State Senate — campaign homepage (used for his 2026 campaign message)](https://www.votestevepadilla.com/) 7. [Imperial Valley Press — Calif. Gov. vetoes Senator Padilla's Salton Sea bill (SB 369, researched but not used in final text; see left_out)](https://www.ivpressonline.com/news/calif-gov-vetoes-senator-padilla-s-salton-sea-bill/article_e0991ca8-0ca0-4234-8df3-a79daa850a87.html) 8. [California State Senator Steve Padilla — press release on SB 619 veto (used for his quote responding to the 2023 veto)](https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/news/senator-padillas-statement-governors-veto-critical-infrastructure-modernization) 9. [California Legislative Information — public bill data (bulk download)](https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/) 10. [Cal-Access raw data export — California Secretary of State](https://www.sos.ca.gov/campaign-lobbying/helpful-resources/raw-data-campaign-finance-and-lobbying-activity) ## The rest of the ballot State Senator, District 18 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "State Senator, District 18 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/state-senate-18 (sources last retrieved September 24, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.