Mark Z. Barabak: ‘It’s not as bad as it looks.’ Alex Padilla on life in the Senate, and spicing up Capitol Hill
SAN FRANCISCO — Less than a year and a half in office, Alex Padilla has already made his mark in the U.S. Senate.
Last summer, when the dining room on the north side of the Capitol ended its pandemic-related closure, Padilla arrived wielding a bottle of Tapatío, the hot sauce native to the Los Angeles area.
Change comes slowly to the Senate, a sclerotic institution that still has a pair of spittoons on the floor because, well, tradition. But the manager of the dining room immediately agreed
