Michael Padilla (born 1948/1949)[1] is an American politician who is the mayor of Topeka, Kansas, serving since January 2022.
[3] In 2000, Padilla, then a police captain, ran for sheriff of Shawnee County as a Democrat.
[3][2] Padilla was elected to Topeka's city council to represent District 5 in 2017.
[5] In January 2021, the members of the Topeka City Council elected Padilla as deputy 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.