LOS ANGELES — The councilor of the 14th district of Los Angeles, Kevin De León, recognized the victory of the young Filipino lawyer, Ysabel Jurado, who reached more than 36 thousand votes in the preliminary scrutiny and widened the distance by 8 thousand in relation to the votes she accumulated the former president of the California Senate.
“I want to extend my congratulations to Ysabel Jurado for a well-fought campaign and wish her success in leading our district,” admitted the councilor. in a statement that he published on his social networks. In the last result revealed by the authorities, she accumulated 28 thousand 19 votes, while the Filipino has 36 thousand 19.
Ysabel Jurado, candidate for Los Angeles District 14, receives flowers as she arrives at the election night party on the patio of the Block Party bar in Highland Park.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
In the text, published on Facebook and Instagram, De León thanked the inhabitants of district 14, where he has served as a councilor since 2020, after that position became vacant. His predecessor, José Huízar, was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for using his position for illicit enrichment, as well as for evading taxes.
The councilor admitted that “the results of this election were not as we expected” and stated that he respects the will of the voters in this democratic process.
“I am proud of what we have achieved together: housing more people than any other district, creating parks and playgrounds and securing historic investments to improve our communities that will be felt for years to come,” he noted.
The future of this district, he added, will be bright and he assured that he will remain committed to the fight for equality, opportunity and dignity for all Angelenos. At the same time, at the closing of the statement, he extended his hand to the elected councilor.
“I’m here to be helpful and make a smooth transition with your incoming team,” he said.
Kevin De León participates in a pre-election forum for Los Angeles City Council District 14 in Little Tokyo on February 5, 2020.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
De León, 57, arrived to the top of politics in California, when he assumed the position of president of the state Senate between October 2014 and March 2018.
He began assisting undocumented immigrants in the community organization One Stop Immigration Center, then he was a union organizer in the California Teachers Association, from where he rose to the Assembly (2006-2010) and the state Senate (2010-2018).
In the midst of these appointments he also ran for the position of federal senator in November 2018 and the mayor of Los Angeles in June 2022, in both he failed.
This seasoned official, born in Los Angeles, is the son of Guatemalan immigrants. His mother worked cleaning houses.
The former senator’s political career, moving between the state Capitol and the Los Angeles municipal council like a fish in water, seems to be languishing after the scandal revealed by the newspaper Los Angeles Timeswhere four prominent Latinos were recorded uttering derogatory and discriminatory epithets against the African-American and Oaxacan communities.
On October 9, 2022, this newspaper released audio recordings hidden in October 2021 in which the voices of De León can be heard, along with the then councilors Gil Cedillo (district 1) and Nury Martínez (district 6), talking with Ron Herrera, president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, referring to the people of Oaxaca as “little, short, dark people” and “so ugly.”
In those audios, Martínez commented that then-Councilman Mike Bonin, who is Anglo-Saxon and gay, carried his African-American son “like an accessory.” In response, De León said that it was like when Nury “brings her Goyard purse or her Louis Vuitton purse.”
At the time, De León apologized and in legal documents, appearing defiant, assured that “I never made any comment that was even remotely offensive.” It was precisely this that has been criticized for not having used his political experience to intervene and question his interlocutors for their offensive comments.
“It was quite painful to hear those comments from the politicians who represented us,” said Mauro Hernández, president of the Oaxaca Regional Organization (ORO), founded in 1987 to promote Oaxacan culture.
In this image from January 2020, Los Angeles District 6 Councilwoman Nury Martínez, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, addresses her colleagues for the first time in her role as president of the city council.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
In his opinion, none of those who appear in the conversations in the audios should have allowed that type of expression.
“They cannot do that because they are representatives of the community; but that means that they had two faces: one to say things in private and another to speak in public. And that has its price, the community did not have more tolerance and that was evident with the fact that he was not re-elected,” he commented.
Hernández stressed that his community was very hurt and believes that they will never be able to forget or forgive those involved in those audios.
“He didn’t say anything, he didn’t show leadership. “Kevin was not an improvised guy in politics, he was president of the California Senate, there he showed that he was not a leader,” he observed. Gaspar Rivera-Salgadosociologist and director of the Center for Mexican Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). “The racism captured in the recordings is what made Kevin De León’s political position unsustainable,” stressed the academic of Oaxacan descent.
At that time, those involved in the racist audios were cornered by public opinion. However, Cedillo concluded his term until December 11, 2022; while Martínez resigned on October 12 of that year. Amid the protests and media pressure, De León was absent from the council sessions for two months, but did not resign from his position.
As if it were a train, the career of the councilor of district 14 is derailed and he is following the course of the others involved in those audios.
“What is evident in the results of this election is that Councilman Kevin De León’s feeling of betrayal against his own community was not forgiven; “He broke their hearts and they broke his career,” he said. Luis Alvaradopolitical strategist.
In this illustration they appear, from left to right, Gil Cedillo, Nury Martínez and Kevin De León.
(Carolyn Cole, Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Shortly after the racism scandal, in November 2022, lawyer Jurado—then just a few days shy of turning 33—decided that she was going to compete for the position of councilor.
In the primary elections, held on March 5, 2024, the two candidates with the greatest support had a distance of 398 votes. In first place was the Filipino with 8,618 votes (24.52%), while Councilor De León reached 8,220 (23.39%).
“At first I wasn’t sure who he was,” admitted veteran activist Carlos Montes, leader of the Boyle Heights-based Community, Service and Organization (CSO), who approached Jurado after the primary election.
“I thought about it carefully and decided to support her because she is progressive, young, a woman and we need a change, especially with Kevin De León’s racist comments against African-Americans and Oaxacans, that is unacceptable,” said Montes.
Hugo Soto-Martínez, councilor of district 13, is one of the officials who supported Jurado in this race. The Filipino also had the support of councilors Eunisses Hernández (district 1) and Nithya Raman (district 4).
Due to her experience in defending tenants, Soto-Martínez thinks that the incoming councilor can provide her contribution to create policies in favor of the most vulnerable sectors of Los Angeles and will be an ally on other issues. “She will be one of the best champions,” he assured.
When the vote counting had just begun, Jurado had a lead of 4,000 votes over De León on Tuesday night. At the party after the vote, on the patio of a bar in Highland Park, the lawyer was ecstatic about the first results.
—Are you happy with the number of votes in your favor? -asked.
—Yes, I don’t know the exact numbers, but they are more than we expected, it seems to be very positive. And it looks like we are going to win,” Jurado answers.
Three days after the elections, the victory of the young lawyer was confirmed. It is also confirmed that the orchestrated movement against racism is what pushed Jurado towards the municipal council, something that she understood by integrating her team of collaborators and volunteers with people of different races.
“This campaign has been about building a great coalition of people,” the councilwoman-elect said in an interview at the party after the vote. His team includes Filipinos, Anglos, African-Americans and Latinos. “Our leadership reflects what we want to share,” he stressed.
Ysabel Jurado, candidate for the 14th district of Los Angeles, gave an optimistic speech to her followers on the night of November 5 on the patio of the Block Party bar in Highland Park.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Jurado, 34, will become the first woman to lead this district. Born in Los Angeles and raised in Highland Park, the daughter of undocumented Filipino immigrants—who became a single mother at 18 and relied on food stamps—studied at Pasadena Community College before transferring to the University of California, Los Angeles. Angeles (UCLA), where he earned his bachelor’s degree and later graduated in law.
Since 1985, when Richard Alatorre won the council seat, District 14 has been governed by Latino men. According to the Census Bureau, in 2020 61% Latinos, 16% Anglos, 12% Asians and 6% African Americans lived here. In this district are the neighborhoods Boyle Heights, El Sereno, Eagle Rock, Highland Park and Lincoln Heights, among others.
