WASHINGTON

US Sen. Alex Padilla announced Tuesday he will not run for California governor next year and plans to focus on his work in the Senate.

"I received an outpouring of encouragement and offers of support for the idea of me running for governor of the state of California," Padilla told reporters at the Capitol.

"It is with a full heart, and even more commitment than ever, that I am choosing to not run for governor of California next year. I choose not just to stay in the Senate. I choose to stay in this fight because the Constitution is worth fighting for," he added.

Padilla became a leading critic of the Trump administration’s approach to immigration in June, when he was escorted out of a news conference in Los Angeles after attempting to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.