Within the secretly recorded dialog that upended his political profession, Los Angeles Metropolis Councilmember Kevin de León stored returning to a well-recognized theme: preserving and increasing Latino political energy.
De León was captured on the recording saying he needed to verify his Eastside district “remains Latino” even after he’s gone. He bemoaned the shortage of political clout wielded by Latinos in L.A., particularly when put next with the Black group.
Now, De León is on observe to lose his seat, largely due to the scandal over the recording, which featured crude and racist remarks. His defeat, after a single four-year time period, would go away Latinos occupying simply 4 of the council’s 15 seats at a time once they make up half town’s inhabitants.
Tenant rights lawyer Ysabel Jurado was main De León by double digits on Wednesday, in a district stretching from downtown to Eagle Rock. If that pattern holds, she is going to turn out to be the primary Filipino American to serve on the council.
It could additionally imply that the 14th District, which takes in closely Mexican American areas resembling Boyle Heights and El Sereno, wouldn’t have a Latino consultant for the primary time since 1985, when Richard Alatorre gained the seat.
De León argued through the marketing campaign {that a} Jurado victory would come on the expense of “Latino voices.” Jurado mentioned her victory would permit town to “finally close this chapter in L.A. history and move past the tapes.”
All through the marketing campaign, Jurado hammered De León over his participation within the secretly recorded dialog, which passed off in 2021 and have become public in 2022. On the recording, then-Council President Nury Martinez may be heard making disparaging remarks about Dist. Atty. George Gascón, saying “F— that guy … he’s with the Blacks.”
Jurado, in an interview on Wednesday, mentioned she disagreed with De León’s emphasis on shoring up Latino energy, which she mentioned “sowed racial division.”
The daughter of undocumented immigrants, Jurado mentioned her life story — she grew up in Highland Park, turned a single mother at 18 and relied on meals stamps — resonated all through the district, which is 61% Latino, 16% white, 12% Asian and 6% Black, in accordance with the 2020 U.S. census.
“We built a big tent — a multigenerational, multiracial, multiethnic coalition of people, which just reflected my upbringing,” she mentioned.
Los Angeles Metropolis Council candidate Ysabel Jurado receives a hug from a supporter at her election evening celebration.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Occasions)
Metropolis Councilman Hugo Soto-Martínez, who campaigned for Jurado, mentioned she talked about points that Latinos care about, resembling the necessity for “good union jobs.”
“Her immigrant story resonated with the Latino community,” he mentioned.
The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk will proceed counting ballots for at the least one other week. As a result of late-arriving ballots are likely to skew left politically in L.A. contests, Jurado might see the hole along with her opponent widen within the coming days.
When De León launched his reelection marketing campaign final 12 months, the audio scandal had already ended the political careers of two different high-profile Latino leaders. Martinez, the previous council president, and Ron Herrera, who headed the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, each resigned from their positions.
(Councilmember Gil Cedillo, the fourth participant within the secretly recorded dialog, had misplaced his reelection by the point the audio turned public.)
On the recording, De León mentioned that Latinos in L.A. fail to make their voices heard politically. By comparability, 25 Black individuals sound like they’re 250, he mentioned.
“When there’s 100 of us … it sounds like it’s 10 of us,” he mentioned.
The audio additionally featured an unpleasant trade relating to the Black son of then-Councilmember Mike Bonin, who’s white and homosexual. Martinez mentioned Bonin carried his son “like an accessory.” De León, in response, mentioned it was identical to when Martinez “brings her Goyard bag or the Louis Vuitton bag.”
De León apologized in 2022, and whereas working for reelection, for what he mentioned and what he didn’t say through the dialog. In authorized filings, nonetheless, he was defiant, saying he “never made any comment that was even remotely offensive.”
“His critics continue to engage in guilt by association for comments that were not his,” De León’s lawyer mentioned in a lawsuit concentrating on two individuals whom De León suspected of constructing the recording.
Within the quick aftermath of the scandal, a big selection of politicians and group leaders known as for De León to resign. Protesters camped outdoors his home. De León disappeared for about two months earlier than returning to council conferences.
Virginia Miranda, who lives in Boyle Heights and voted for Jurado, mentioned De León ought to have objected to the offensive remarks through the one-hour dialog.
“He was in the room when it happened, and he didn’t step up. He didn’t say anything, and then he hid for two months because [protesters] were outside of his house,” mentioned Miranda, a semiretired signal language interpreter.
De León, by way of a marketing campaign spokesperson, didn’t reply to inquiries from The Occasions. On election evening, he informed his supporters he felt it was essential to stay in workplace and battle for his constituents.
“I owned it and I apologized. I didn’t quit on you,” De León informed the gang.
Bonin, in an interview, mentioned he’s pleased with Tuesday’s outcomes, saying he expects Jurado will develop the council’s bloc of extremely progressive council members. On the similar time, he was additionally happy on a private degree.
“I can tell my son that people face accountability for the things that they do, and that’s reassuring,” he mentioned.
El Sereno resident Louis Ortiz, dropping off his poll on Tuesday, shrugged off the audio scandal, saying De León’s remarks have been taken out of context. Ortiz, 70, praised the council member’s work cleansing up neighborhood streets, notably in Boyle Heights.
“I’ve seen a lot of improvements,” mentioned Ortiz, who voted for De León.
Marc Krause, a marketing campaign coordinator for the Democratic Socialists of America-Los Angeles, was amongst these celebrating Jurado’s double-digit lead on election evening. Over the past 12 months, DSA-LA despatched greater than 300 volunteers to knock on doorways for Jurado.
Krause, who’s 37 and grew up in East Los Angeles, mentioned identity-based voting — the notion that Latinos ought to assist different Latinos — has not introduced higher illustration for the Eastside. That’s why youthful voters should not particularly within the thought, mentioned Krause, who’s Latino himself.
“When it comes to our elected representatives, at least my generation, it’s more about what you stand for,” Krause mentioned on the DSA’s election evening celebration, held at Audio Graph Beer Co. in downtown.
The audio leak scandal might have one more chapter, one revolving across the difficulty of Latino voting rights. Two years in the past, Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta launched an investigation into town’s redistricting course of — a significant subject of the secretly recorded dialog.
In latest months, Bonta’s authorized workforce has questioned whether or not town’s council district maps present ample illustration for Latinos and has ready a draft authorized doc demanding that town draft new maps.
Jurado, as a brand new council member, might find yourself deciding how town ought to reply.
Occasions workers author Gustavo Arellano contributed to this report.
