Jose Ugarte at City Hall.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Jose Ugarte managed Price’s successful 2013 campaign and worked for him on and off since then, including as deputy chief of staff.
With roots in the labor movement, Ugarte said he was a community organizer for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and registered union members to vote by mail. Born in Oaxaca, Mexico, Ugarte said immigration is the main reason he’s running — saying he wants to protect undocumented Angelenos from Trump administration deportation efforts.
Ugarte would do so by pushing to revise the city’s Special Order 40, which prohibits police from questioning people to determine their immigration status. Ugarte believes the order should include a requirement for Los Angeles Police Department officers and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to remain 50 to 100 feet from each other during protests, so it doesn’t appear to Angelenos that the departments are working together.
He has taken heat for ethics violations over outside income he took in from his political consulting business that he did not report to the city and said he is making payments on his $25,000 fine.
Estuardo Mazariegos at City Hall.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Born in Guatemala in 1985, Estuardo Mazariegos said he and his family first came to Los Angeles as undocumented immigrants in 1988. He later gained citizenship.
He helped start the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, a statewide nonprofit that organizes lower-income Black and brown communities for progressive change. He is co-director of the group’s Los Angeles branch and lives in Vermont Square.
Elmer Roldan at City Hall.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Elmer Roldan arrived in District 9 from Guatemala with his family at 9 years old and, according to his campaign website, began working as an education activist at 13 for the nonprofit Community Coalition, which was founded by Mayor Bass, while he still was undocumented. He gained citizenship in 2008. After Community Coalition he worked for an L.A. Unified School District school board president and a superintendent, according to his bio, and now works as the executive director of Communities in Schools of Los Angeles trying to prevent students from dropping out of school.
Jorge Nuño
(Courtesy of Jorge Nuño)
Born and raised in South L.A., Jorge Nuño is the son of Mexican immigrants from Jalisco. The 49-year-old also ran for Council District 9 in 2017, losing to Price, who was running for a second term. Nuño then ran for the county Board of Supervisors in 2020 and lost in the primary. He runs “The Big House,” which serves as the office for his graphic design firm, NTS Communications, and also as a community space for other entrepreneurs and organizations.
Jorge Hernandez Rosas, the son of Mexican immigrants, is a 40-year resident of District 9. He has served on the Community and Neighbors for Ninth District Unity Neighborhood Council and teaches English language classes at the Abram Friedman Occupational Center.
Martha Sánchez
(Courtesy of Martha Sánchez)
Martha Sánchez is a professor, marriage and family therapist and community organizer. She is running to “address gentrification, economic decline, and public safety challenges” in District 9. Sanchez grew up in Jalisco, Mexico and came to the U.S. as an adult.
