Los Angeles City Council candidate Ysabel Jurado did not have large supporters spending lavishly on her behalf.
The Highland Park resident also didn't send glossy campaign mailers, instead opting for about 3,000 postcards, which were less expensive and personally handwritten.
What Jurado, a lawyer specializing in tenants' rights, did do was an intense probing operation. According to his campaign, he sent 20 paid employees and about 250 volunteers to 85,000 doors across District 14, which stretches from Boyle Heights and north central to Eagle Rock and El Sereno.
That strategy is paying dividends. On Tuesday, he moved ahead of Councilman Kevin de León, who had been leading the race among eight candidates to represent his Eastside district, according to the latest election results. Now in first place and probably headed for a second round, Jurado is yet another example of the electoral power wielded by the city's political left.
Jurado, in an interview, said she is not sure who her opponent will be in the Nov. 5 runoff election, as votes are still being counted. She described her campaign as an efficient operation, focused on supporting renters, fighting gentrification and “elevating the voices of those who have not been heard.”
“We don't have an office. We have not sent emails. We are talking to voters one on one,” she said. “Everything involved in building this campaign has been an uphill battle.”
Jury's top spot was revealed Tuesday as part of the Los Angeles County Recorder/Clerk's latest daily election update since the March 5 primary. Jurado received 24.5% of the vote, compared to De León's 23.5%, a difference of 318 votes.
On Tuesday, Assemblyman Miguel Santiago was 730 votes behind De León, with 21.2% of the vote.
Election officials say an estimated 126,000 ballots remain to be processed countywide. So far, every one of the county's daily updates has ruled in Jurado's favor.
On Friday, Jurado came in second place, getting more votes than Santiago. Four days later, she was leading the group.
De León, who is seeking a second four-year term, will face serious challenges if he advances to the second round. A former state legislator, he was at the center of the 2022 scandal over leaked racist comments that led to the resignations of former Council President Nury Martínez and Ron Herrera, former head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.
De León repeatedly apologized for his comments during that conversation and for not putting an end to those of others. He resisted calls to resign from a wide range of politicians, including President Biden, and appeared at meetings where audience members frequently booed him.
Less than a quarter of voters opted to keep De León in office, according to results so far.
If he and Jurado finish in the top two, District 14 voters will have a clear choice on several of the city's most controversial issues.
De León voted last year in favor of Mayor Karen Bass's budget, which called for hiring 1,000 police officers. Jurado said he would have voted against the spending plan, pushing for the funds to be allocated to social services.
De León also voted in favor of a four-year police raise package, which Jurado opposed. Additionally, De León supports Municipal Code 41.18, which prohibits homeless encampments within 500 feet of schools, daycares and council-designated “sensitive” locations, such as senior centers and freeway overpasses.
Jurado has called for Law 41.18 to be repealed, stating that it has led to the criminalization of homeless people.
On Tuesday, a representative for De León made it clear that his candidate would highlight some of those differences in a runoff against Jurado.
“Voters have a clear choice in November between an experienced, results-oriented elected official and someone who has promised to undo some of the progress we've made on housing Angelenos and clearing sidewalks,” said David Meraz, spokesman for Of Lion. .
Meraz noted that 18 months ago, in the wake of the audio leak scandal, many political groups called for De León's resignation. The results so far show that “the community chooses the candidate, not outside organizations,” he said.
Jurado has been running to push the council to the left, expanding the size of the council's ultra-progressive bloc if he wins. She would be the first Filipino American to serve on the council, representing a district that is 61% Latino, 16% white and nearly 15% Asian, according to a demographic breakdown released by the city in 2021.
De León, who was born in Los Angeles, is of Mexican, Guatemalan and Chinese descent, Meraz said. During the campaign, De León highlighted his own efforts to reduce homelessness, help renters and stop gentrification in downtown Los Angeles and Boyle Heights.
Brian VanRiper, a political consultant who does not have clients in the race, said Jurado is in a strong position to prevail in the runoff. Still, he offered a word of caution to Jurado's camp, noting that the district has a “history of forgiving” rulers with significant political baggage.
District voters re-elected Councilman José Huizar in 2015, even after a former employee sued him because she alleged he had sexually harassed her. In that race, Huizar easily defeated former County Supervisor Gloria Molina, a political “titan” who had been in office for about three decades.
“[Huizar] he doubled down on constituent services and defended the case he made for the district,” VanRiper said. “It seems that Kevin de León is following that manual.”
Huizar was later charged with a wide-ranging federal corruption case and sentenced to 13 years in prison. De León was elected to the seat in 2020.
In recent months, many of the groups that supported De León four years ago have lined up behind other candidates. The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters and other groups spent a combined $687,000 on efforts to elect Santiago, the third-place state legislator.
A Santiago consultant did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jurado, for his part, has garnered the support of a number of politicians and community groups, many of them on the far left of the political spectrum.
Councilwoman Eunisses Hernández, municipal comptroller Kenneth Mejía and former mayoral candidate Gina Viola have been campaigning for Jurado. Volunteers from the Democratic Socialists of America-Los Angeles, Ground Game LA, and Boyle Heights Vote (formerly known as Boyle Heights for Bernie) have knocked on their doors.
Caleb Elguezabal, who lives in Eagle Rock and is a member of the DSA, said the district has not “had the best representation” over the past decade.
Elguezabal, who volunteered on Jurado's campaign, said he hopes she brings change to City Hall with a new approach to homelessness, fighting for a tax on vacant residential units and helping tenants buy their buildings. of apartments.
“Having someone with integrity would be a game-changer,” he said.
Times staff writer Angie Orellana Hernández contributed to this report.
