Community relations manager Imelda Padilla will face council aide Marisa Alcaraz in the June runoff to fill the Los Angeles City Council seat vacated by Nury Martinez.
Padilla leads the seven-candidate field with 3,421 votes, 25.69%, according to updated results released Friday, April 7, by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Alcaraz was second with 2,812 votes, 21.12%, 297 votes ahead of homeless services manager Marco Santana.
There are not enough ballots left to count to change the outcome. Because no candidate received a majority, the top two finishers will meet in a runoff, whose deadline to cast ballots is June 27.
Padilla has pledged to prioritize “an immediate solution to the unhoused crisis because what is currently occurring is not working.”
“I will propose an emergency remediation of encampments, connecting the unhoused population to essential services that will support them in finding housing, employment, and health services,” Padilla said on her campaign’s website. “I will work cohesively with all stakeholders, residents, non-profits organizations, religious leaders, business owners and health organizations to develop and implement sensible hyper-local solutions that make our communities safer, sanitary, and sustainable.”
The 35-year-old Padilla was born in Van Nuys and raised in Sun Valley, graduating from Roscoe Elementary School, Byrd Middle School and Polytechnic High School. She received a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree from Cal State Northridge.
Alcaraz has said she “will prioritize helping people without homes off our streets and into housing, where they can get the care they need to get back on their feet.” Alcaraz has said she supports conducting extensive outreach and having a “Housing First” approach. “We need to continue to invest in outreach teams, especially the multi-disciplinary teams that include a nurse and mental health professional,” Alcaraz said.
The 38-year-old Alcaraz is deputy chief of staff and environmental policy director to Ninth District Councilman Curren Price. She was raised in Lake Balboa, graduating from Birmingham High School. She received a bachelor’s degree from UC Irvine and a master’s degree from USC.
Council District 6 consists of Van Nuys, Arleta, Lake Balboa, Panorama City, Sun Valley and the eastern portions of North Hills and North Hollywood. Martinez represented the district until October, when she resigned her council presidency and then, two days later, her seat altogether. Her resignations came in the wake of Martinez being caught making racist comments in a meeting that was secretly taped and leaked to the news media.
Former Councilman Gil Cedillo was also in that meeting, along with Councilman Kevin de León and Ron Herrera, president of the L.A. County Federation of Labor. Herrera also resigned his post, while Cedillo ultimately left the council at the end of his term after losing his bid for re-election in June.
De León has defied continued calls for his resignation but has been stripped by the council of major committee assignments and largely shunned by council colleagues.
The Sixth District is being overseen by a non-voting caretaker, the city’s chief legislative analyst, Sharon Tso. A non-voting caretaker does not hold a seat on the council, but oversees the council office to make sure the district provides constituent services and other basic functions.
The winner of the special election will finish Martinez’s term, which ends in December 2024.
