Los Angeles may soon have several new representatives on the City Council, with the primary election slated for Tuesday.
Voters, though,already have received their vote-by-mail ballots, which were sent out beginning May 4, so ballots already are being cast. More than 100 Voting Centers opened across Los Angeles County on May 23, including multiple polling places in L.A.
This year, Los Angeles residents will be tasked with electing representatives for numerous City Council districts, including the First, Third, Fifth, Ninth, 11th, 13th and 15th.
Unless one candidate wins a majority vote during the primary — that is, more than 50% — the top-two candidates will carry their campaigns until the November general election.
The City Council has multiple responsibilities, including implementing local legislation, citywide budget approval, levying taxes, ordering elections, approving contracts, and representing the constituents of their respective districts, among other duties. City Council members are elected to four-year terms and are limited to three terms.
District 1
There are five candidates vying to represent thedistrict, which includes parts of northeast and northwest L.A., such as Glassell Park, Highland Park, Chinatown, Echo Park, Elysian Park, Westlake, Pico Union, Koreatown, Lincoln Heights and MacArthur Park.
Incumbent Eunisses Hernandez, who has been on the council since 2022, is seeking reelection against four opponents, including Expanded Learning Alliance’s Executive Director Maria Lou Calanche, chief strategist Raul Claros, small business owner and community advocate Nelson Grande and small business owner Sylvia Robledo.
For most candidates in the race, increasing public safety across the district is a top priority, according to their responses to this news organization’s questionnaire.
For Hernandez, if reelected, her priority is to continue investing in crime prevention and infrastructure.
“I believe public safety is an ecosystem and my work has focused on strengthening every part of it, including infrastructure,” Hernandez said, noting that during her first term she has worked to address key safety-related issues including launching a districtwide Peace Ambassador program. “By investing in prevention, infrastructure and the right response, we can build safer communities and ensure people get the help they need.”
Calanche — who has also held positions on several city commissions, including the L.A. Police Department Board of Police Commissioners, the L.A. Housing Authority Commission, the L.A. Youth Development Task Force and more — plans to invest in additional mental health resources to bolster public safety.
“I will hire 100 mental health clinicians dedicated to serving our unhoused population, ensuring people in crisis get real care, not just enforcement. At the same time, I will expand co-response teams that pair police officers with mental health professionals,” Calanche said. “This approach means the right person responds to the right call, protecting public safety while getting vulnerable residents the help they actually need.”
Claros, who previously served as the American Red Cross’ executive director, said improving public safety in the district will require stronger police presence and compassion.
“I support visible foot patrols, stronger presence in parks and transit corridors, lighting improvements and rapid response to neighborhood concerns. At the same time, we need mental health crisis teams, addiction services, youth prevention programs and outreach that connects people to treatment,” Claros said. “My Red Cross emergency response work has always been rooted in prevention, triage and coordinated care. Safe neighborhoods and strong prevention services must work together.”
Small business owner and community advocate Grande said he would also support increasing police presence in the district, alongside expanding the district’s ability to respond to mental health crises appropriately.
“Rebuilding trust between residents and law enforcement is a priority for me. That means walking officers who know the block, not just patrol cars passing through,” Grande said. “I also support expanding unarmed response for non-violent calls. Mental health crises and wellness checks do not always need a sworn officer. Trained civilian responders handle those situations better and cost less, which frees up officers for actual crime. That is just a smarter use of limited resources.”
Robledo, also a small business owner who has served on the L.A. Convention Center Authority, the Business and License Commission and the Committee to Investigate Rampart, said her plan to improve public safety would be multi-pronged.
“We must work toward fully staffing our police and fire departments and equipping them with modern technology that improves response times, efficiency and accountability. We must focus on vandalism, retail theft and illegal street racing, which directly impact neighborhood safety and economic vitality,” Robledo said. “I support enhanced training in community policing and strengthening the Senior Lead Officer Program to build trust and consistent relationships between officers and residents.”
District 3
The district, which includes Canoga Park, Reseda, Tarzana, Winnetka and Woodland Hills, has three hopefuls competing to take over the seat from Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who has been termed out.
The candidates include advisor Christopher Robert Celona, businessperson Timothy Gaspar and Barri Worth Girvan, who most recently worked as the director of community affairs for L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath.
For Celona, the biggest issue facing the district is the cost of living, he said in his response to the questionnaire.
“It’s getting harder to afford to live here, small businesses are struggling and people don’t feel like City Hall is responsive or accountable,” the candidate said. “My top priorities are to bring jobs back, especially in entertainment; lower the cost of living by making it easier to build housing; improve public safety and emergency responses; and fix the basics like streets, sidewalks and response times.”
Gaspar, said his main concerns for the district are public safety, homelessness, and infrastructure — and that those would be the first issues he addresses if elected.
“I am a lifelong public safety advocate and the only candidate endorsed by our city and county’s law enforcement groups. In regard to the homeless, we get what we tolerate,” Gaspar said. “I will enforce our anti-camping laws on a constant basis. Our city currently spends over $800 million annually addressing the homelessness crisis, and I know we can help people for a lot less tax dollars.”
Worth Girvan is the only candidate in this race with political experience. She is an elected member of the L.A. County Democratic Party, was an elected delegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention and has been a longtime Assembly District Delegate to the California Democratic Party State Central Committee. She also recently served on the San Fernando Valley Council of Governments.
“My top priorities are to ensure safe, clean neighborhoods by restoring public safety — strengthening both sworn and unarmed response — and protecting fire resources, as well as expanding housing options that fit the needs of our communities,” Worth Girvan said. “I will invest in rebuilding infrastructure, like sidewalks, streets and transit connections, to revitalize our local economy with job creation and accessibility.”
Worth Given also said she intends to deliver streamlined permitting and reliable core city services to support D3 residents.
District 5
There are three candidates in the district, which includes Bel Air, Beverly Crest, Beverlywood, Hollywood, Melrose, Encino, Pico-Robertson, Westside Village, Westwood and Westwood Gardens.
The district is represented by Katy Young Yaroslavsky, who has served on the council since 2022, and is seeking reelection. Her two challengers are attorney Henry Mantel and finance manager Morgan Oyler.
For the incumbent, the district’s ‘s key issues include housing affordability, homelessness, public safety and the reliability of city services, she said in her response to the questionnaire.
“I’ve focused on results. Street homelessness is down 27% in CD 5 and we’ve expanded interim housing so people have a clear path off the street. I supported the largest expansion of tenant protections in more than 40 years to help keep people housed,” Yaroslavsky said. “If reelected, my priorities are clear: build more housing faster, prevent homelessness, improve response times and neighborhood safety and fix the systems that slow the city down so services work the way residents expect.”
Mantel, a tenants’ rights attorney who also has served on the Mid-City West Neighborhood Council and the Park La Brea Residents Association, said cost of living and housing affordability also are key concerns for the district.
“My top priority is addressing the housing shortage by making it legal and easier to build more homes across the district, especially near jobs and transit, while also holding bad landlords accountable and making sure tenants are protected from unsafe conditions and unfair evictions,” Mantel said. “We also need to take public safety seriously by improving response times and expanding alternatives like unarmed crisis response, so police can focus on serious crime.”
Oyler also said the district’s key issues are housing affordability, public safety and public transit reliability.
“We must understand that the root cause of the housing crisis comes from our exclusionary zoning and restrictive land use laws. We will not solve the issue unless we address the supply/demand imbalance that drives up prices,” Oyler said. “We can make a meaningful impact through incremental growth in high-demand areas, increased density around transit infrastructure and redevelopment of under-utilized commercial zones.”
District 7
Incumbent Monica Rodriguez is running unopposed. The district includes the northeast section of the San Fernando Valley, which is Pacoima, Lake View Terrace, Sunland-Tujunga, Mission Hills, North Hills, Shadow Hills and Sylmar.
District 9
The race for this council seat is packed, with six candidates vying to represent the district, which includes the western portions of downtown Los Angeles and much of South L.A. The district is represented by Curren D. Price, Jr., who is termed out after 12 years on the council.
The candidates include Estuardo Mazariegos, co-director of the Alliance for Californians for Community Empowerment, NTS Communications CEO Jorge Nuño, Communities in Schools of Los Angeles Executive Director Elmer Roldan, educator and therapist Jorge Hernandez Rosas, college professor and therapist Martha Sánchez and Jose Ugarte, the deputy chief of staff for the district’s incumbent.
Most candidates agree the district’s main challenges include housing affordability, quality of life, homelessness and lack of economic opportunity, according to their responses to the questionnaire.
Mazariegos said, if elected, he plans to deliver a higher quality of life for the district’s residents.
“Every day I wake up committed to and fighting for my community. In office, I’ll bring South Central with me and we’ll get to work delivering a higher quality of life throughout the district. Clean, safe, well-lit streets; affordable housing; quality green spaces,” Mazariegos said. “I will be singularly focused every day on addressing our community’s needs. I have no political ambition beyond making this city work for our neighborhoods.”
For Nuño, improving the quality-of-life for residents also is a top priority.
“We will focus on making our neighborhoods clean, safe and walkable through proactive cleanups, infrastructure improvements and stronger coordination with city departments that must be held accountable,” the candidate said. “I will push for measurable progress on homelessness by ensuring services are coordinated and outcomes are tracked. Finally, I will drive local economic development by supporting small businesses, creating job pathways and keeping investment within our community.”
Roldan, who aside from his work with Communities In Schools of Los Angeles, also has served as a member of the L.A. City Traffic Enforcement Alternatives Advisory Task Force and the Commission on Community & Family Services, said affordability is the district’s top issue.
“Too many families are being priced out by rising housing, grocery and utility costs. South L.A. also faces historic underinvestment, creating an “intersection of deserts” — from healthcare and food to housing, greenspace and economic opportunity,” Roldan said. “My top priorities are making Los Angeles more affordable by building housing that protects tenants, expanding rental and utility relief and investing in childcare and afterschool programs.”
Hernandez Rosas also agrees that affordability, homelessness and public safety are major issues in the district.
“If elected, my top priorities will focus on restoring safety, stability and opportunity,” Hernandez Rosas said. “I will address homelessness through a balanced approach, expanding supportive housing, enforcing accountability and connecting individuals to mental health and substance use services. Second, I will strengthen public safety by improving emergency response times, investing in community-based policing and ensuring our neighborhoods are well-lit and clean.”
The candidate also said he would work to invest in youth programs, small businesses and push for stronger cleaner streets and stronger city services.
For Sánchez, who also is a South Central Neighborhood Council board member, her top three priorities, if elected, would include addressing gentrification, economic decline and community safety.
“These three issues are interconnected, since corporate landlords are destroying single-family homes and affordable units, gentrifying our communities and pushing people out of their homes to live on the streets,” Sánchez said. “I look forward to coordinating efforts with housing advocates, community organizations and other public entities to create long-term solutions without exhausting city resources that could prevent more families from the displacement of corporate landlords and to move residents from homelessness to achieving social stability.”
Ugarte said one of his key focuses, if elected, would be to address environmental inequities and lack of reliable public transportation in the district.
“With tens of thousands of vehicles to the east and north of the district, our residents are unfairly burdened by the pollutants in the air from vehicle exhaust. I would work with Caltrans to set up sound barriers of vegetation along these freeways to protect and improve the air quality our neighbors breathe,” Ugarte said. “I would also work with our local partners and L.A. Metro to bring a rail line to South Central, with dependable public transit as one of the greatest indicators of upward economic mobility.”
District 11
There are two candidates running to represent the district, which includes Brentwood, Del Rey, Mar Vista, Marina del Rey, Pacific Palisades, Playa del Rey, Playa Vista, Venice, West L.A. and Westchester.
The candidates include incumbent Traci Park, who has held the seat since 2022, and challenger Faizah Malik, managing attorney for housing justice at Public Counsel.
For the incumbent, who is also an appointed member of the L.A. County Democratic Party and vice chair of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, her top concerns include public safety, homelessness, affordabilit, and rebuilding Pacific Palisades after the 2025 wildfire.
“I’ve consistently fought for more firefighters, paramedics, police officers and park rangers, and to ensure they have the resources, equipment and technology they need to keep residents safe. I expanded mental health crisis response teams to alleviate call loads and funded streetlighting and infrastructure upgrades to enhance community security,” Park said in her questionnaire.
Park said she will also focus on delivering housing solutions, addressing mental health and addiction, creating and preserving good jobs and working to ensure Pacific Palisades residents impacted by the fires have a pathway to rebuilding their homes.
For Malik, her key priorities for the district if elected would include addressing housing affordability and homelessness, promoting public investment in the Westside and rebuilding Pacific Palisades.
“Making the Westside affordable for all by advocating for renter protection policies that reduce evictions and promote stability and security for working-class Westsiders and supporting the production of housing for workers at all income levels, including and especially social housing and affordable and permanent supportive housing,” is among those priorities, Malik said.
She also would want to fund more robust and restore basic city services, improve public transportation, fund the Palisades recovery effort and help Los Angeles prepare for potential disaster in the future if elected.
District 13
Four candidates are vying to represent the district, which includes Silver Lake, Echo Park, Elysian Valley, Atwater Village, Hollywood, East Hollywood, Koreatown, Rampart Village and Historic Filipinotown.
The candidates include incumbent Hugo Soto-Martinez, who has held the seat since 2022, outreach coordinator Colter Carlisle, Grow Hollywood founder Dylan Kendall and Strategic Initiatives Vice President Rich Sarian.
Since the district has been the center of debates over homelessness policy in recent years, including encampment enforcement and housing solutions, the issue is top-of-mind for most candidates running to represent the district, they said in their questionnaire responses.
Incumbent Soto-Martinez said that, if reelected, he plans to work toward raising wages and lowering rents for working people.
“That starts with building significantly more housing across the city, especially affordable housing, so Angelenos can actually afford to live where they work,” Soto-Martinez said. “In the City Council, we recently lowered allowable rent increases for people in rent-stabilized units for the first time in over 40 years, helping keep rents down and thousands of residents in their homes.”
Carlisle, who is also vice president of the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council, said he would focus on strengthening renter protections, taking a more balanced approach to development, and preserving rent control if elected.
“My approach is focused on accountability, coordination and results. We need to make sure funding is being used effectively, with clear tracking and oversight so the public can see what is working and where improvements are needed,” Carlisle said. “We should prioritize expanding access to housing, mental health care and supportive services so people have a real pathway off the street.”
Kendall said her top priority is restoring the relationship between district residents and the government. She also would focus on addressing homelessness through anti-encampment enforcement and other solutions.
“I support using tools like 41.18 to keep sidewalks, schools, parks and business districts passable and safe because it is not compassionate to abandon people to the streets or to ignore the impact on residents and workers,” Kendall said. “My approach is enforcement paired with real exits. We will identify the beds and service providers who are actually helping people off the streets and put our support there.”
Sarian also said that addressing homelessness is a major priority and noted that he would plan to approach the issue practically and with compassion if elected.
“I support a balanced strategy that includes expanding interim and permanent housing, strengthening outreach and ensuring encampments are addressed in a way that connects people to services while restoring public spaces,” Sarian said. “Businesses and residents should not feel like their concerns are being ignored, and people experiencing homelessness deserve real pathways off the street.”
District 15
The district comprises the Harbor Area, including San Pedro.
There are two candidates: Incumbent Tim McOsker, who has held the seat since 2022, and political newcomer Jordan Rivers.
McOsker said housing affordability and homelessness have become “two of the greatest missions we face as a city and it is the moral challenge of our time.”
The incumbent advocates for building more housing “at every income level” and for a process that speeds up approvals to ensure that housing “actually gets delivered efficiently and responsibly.
“At the same time, we must continue bringing people indoors, holding ourselves accountable for results and making sure our neighborhoods remain livable as we tackle this crisis.”
McOsker’s other priorities, he said, include supporting working families, good-paying jobs and small, family-owned businesses that hire locally; workforce training programs, community programs that promote safe neighborhoods, afterschool programs and jobs; access to parks and libraries; and environmental justice issues, including air and water quality.
For Rivers, the district’s primary issues — and his top priorities — are social mobility, redevelopment and food security, he said in his response to the questionnaire.
On the issue of homelessness, Rivers said he would “implement a proposal for mandatory quotas for the existing housing agencies and organizations, such as the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.
“We need to have a gradual construction of facilities to house people one at a time,” he said, “to monitor and determine any discrepancies before more funds are added for transitional housing arrangements.”
