Four candidates have announced their bids for the Los Angeles City Council seat in District 9: Jose Ugarte, Estuardo Mazariegos, Elmer Roldan, and Jorge Nuño. Each candidate has unique qualifications and motivations for running.
Jose Ugarte, a community organizer and former deputy chief of staff to Councilman Price, is running on an immigration-focused platform. He wants to protect undocumented Angelenos from Trump administration deportation efforts by revising the city's Special Order 40.
Estuardo Mazariegos, co-director of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment's Los Angeles branch, is a naturalized citizen who came to the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant as a child. He aims to organize lower-income Black and brown communities for progressive change.
Elmer Roldan, executive director of Communities in Schools of Los Angeles, has worked on education activism since age 13 and gained citizenship in 2008. He seeks to prevent students from dropping out of school.
Jorge Nuño, a graphic designer and community organizer, is the son of Mexican immigrants and has run for office twice before. He wants to address gentrification, economic decline, and public safety challenges in District 9.