{"id":1046,"date":"2026-06-09T14:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T14:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=1046"},"modified":"2026-06-09T14:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T14:00:12","slug":"this-race-shows-l-a-is-changing-forever-and-its-not-the-mayoral-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=1046","title":{"rendered":"This race shows L.A. is changing forever. And it\u2019s not the mayoral contest"},"content":{"rendered":"
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While the mayor\u2019s race has understandably received a lot of nationwide buzz, another local election deserves just as much attention for what it says about the past, present and future of the metropolis.<\/p>\n

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South L.A. still conjures up images of Black L.A. in the popular imagination \u2014 understandable, since it\u2019s the historical and political heart of the community. But its demographic reality changed a generation ago. Today, the region is majority Latino, and its District 9 \u2014 which stretches from LA Live in downtown to the outskirts of Watts \u2014 is easily the most Latino council district in the city, at 78% of its residents.<\/p>\n

The top two vote getters right now in that race are Jose Ugarte and Estuardo Manzariegos, and most of the coverage focused on how District 9 will have its first non-Black council member in 63 years, which will also mean it\u2019ll be the first time since 1963 that L.A. won\u2019t have three Black council members.<\/p>\n

Instead, District 9 will once again have a Latino representative.<\/p>\n

South L.A.\u2019s demographic shift<\/h3>\n

From 1949 to 1963, its council member was Edward Roybal, L.A.\u2019s first Latino council member in modern times. He pioneered the rise of multiracial coalitions to bring equity to City Hall, a template followed by one of his campaign volunteers, future L.A. council member and Mayor Tom Bradley.<\/p>\n

But what\u2019s so fascinating about the District 9 battle isn\u2019t just that two Latinos will run against each other but the type<\/i> of Latinos Ugarte and Manzariegos represent.<\/p>\n

For too long, \u201cLatino\u201d in L.A. has been synonymous with \u201cMexican American\u201d \u2014 understandable, since the community makes up about 75% of Latino Angelenos and the community\u2019s most influential political and cultural brokers have long been of Mexican heritage. But South L.A. shows the breadth of Latino diversity more than any other region of the city.<\/p>\n

As I wrote in 2022 for a Times package on the 30th anniversary of the L.A. riots, you\u2019re just as likely to find pupuserias and the blue-and-white color schemes of some Central America flags painted on businesses as you are taquer\u00edas and the Mexican tricolor. District 9 in particular has become a landing point for Indigenous people from Mexico, especially people from the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca. Recent migration has brought in Venezuelan and Colombian migrants to the area, as well.<\/p>\n

Ugarte and Manzariegos reflect this reality.<\/p>\n

Two immigrants vie for District 9 seat<\/h3>\n

The two are immigrants \u2014 Ugarte was born in Oaxaca while Manzariegos is from Guatemala \u2014 which makes it the first time two immigrants from Latin America will face off for a council seat in the general election. If Ugarte wins, he would become L.A.\u2019s first Oaxacan council member \u2014 a significant achievement given that some of L.A.\u2019s most powerful politicos ridiculed his community four years ago when the infamous City Hall audio leak upended politics in the city.<\/p>\n

A Manzariegos victory would make him the first Central American immigrant to serve on the City Council and just its second member of Central American heritage, after former councilman Kevin de Le\u00f3n. He would also be the second Latino in modern times to represent South L.A., following in the footsteps of his fellow Guatemalan American, current Assemblymember Sade Elhawary.<\/p>\n

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Expect the Oaxacan and Central American communities to rally hard for their respective trailblazers, who both grew up in South L.A.. Achieving historical ethnic firsts isn\u2019t all that makes the District 9 race so fascinating, though.<\/p>\n

Ugarte was a longtime staffer for District 9 Councilmember Curren Price, who is leaving office because of term limits. That connection won him early support from the district\u2019s Black establishment and labor unions, mainstream connections he will no doubt lean on through election day. Manzariegos, meanwhile, has the endorsement of the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, which counts three current council members as members and a fellow traveler, Councilmember Nithya Raman, looking like she\u2019s going to face off against Mayor Karen Bass in the general election.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s going to look like a walk through Griffith Park compared with the desmadre <\/i>Ugarte versus Manzariegos will unlock. Gonna be fun!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s top stories<\/h2>\n

Nithya Raman clinches second<\/h3>\n