Would-be successors to Secretary of State Debra Bowen promised Wednesday to inject new life into an office they said has become technologically inept and disengaged. Derek Cressman, left, a Democratic candidate for secretary of state, makes his opening statement during Wednesday’s debate. Democratic state Sen. Alex Padilla, left, shakes hands with Republican rival Pete Peterson after a debate Wednesday in the Sacramento Press Club that included four of the eight candidates for secretary of state.