CD-9 candidates reach out to undecided voters in the primary campaign’s last stretch

After 12 years, the City of Los Angeles’s 9th district, where approximately 80% of the residents are Latino, will soon have a new representative. 

As the June 2 primary election approaches, many residents and community members remain unsure of who to vote for to represent CD-9, which covers areas such as Exposition Park, Historic South Central, Central-Alameda and Vermont Square. 

Longtime Councilmember Curren Price, who is currently facing an open public corruption case, is leaving office in December 2026, opening the seat to one of the many Latino candidates on the ballot or one certified write-in candidate. 

This is currently the most packed council race in the city council.

Last Friday, May 8, Alliance College-Ready Public Schools hosted a nonpartisan candidate forum for CD-9’s primary candidates in the heart of South Central, L.A. 

The forum was moderated by Martina Boutté, community school coordinator at Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 12, with questions written and asked by students. Translation services were provided to anyone who needed them. 

The school’s gymnasium was filled with about 50 attendees, the majority of who were Latino. 

At the forum, all registered candidates for CD-9 were present, including Jose Ugarte, Estuardo Mazariegos, Jorge Nuño, Marta Sanchez and Elmer Roldan. 

Chris Martin, the certified write-in candidate for the district, was not present at the forum. In a social media comment, he said he was not invited. 

At the beginning of the forum, each candidate was given 30 seconds for an opening statement. 

Elmer Roldan

Roldan, born in Guatemala, immigrated to South Central L.A. when he was nine years old. At the age of 13, he joined the Community Coalition, a grassroots organization composed primarily of youth and adult residents and founded by Mayor Karen Bass. There, he worked on campaigns regarding school infrastructure improvements, including air conditioning and safe drinking water. 

He also previously worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District in community affairs and served as the director of education programs at the United Way of Greater Los Angeles. In his opening statement, the CSU Dominguez Hills graduate said he was running to improve the conditions of the district, which he said has not had adequate leadership in decades. 

“If you are like me, you have called the council members Price's office asking to clear an encampment or solve an issue in your community, and unless you are one of the organizations that receive financial support or political backing, your calls probably went unanswered and that issue went unresolved,” he told attendees. 

In his opening statement, he also took a jab at the current councilmember and his corruption and embezzlement charges, as well as at Uguarte, who is Price’s former deputy chief of staff and has been referred to in the past as his “right-hand man.”

"Then the news broke that our council member is currently facing charges for corruption and his deputy chief of staff was fined for failing to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars that he made to influence city politics,” Roldan said. 

He was referring to a $17,500 fine that Ugurte agreed to pay for repeatedly failing to disclose outside income he made from his lobbying and consulting from 2021 through 2023, when he was also working as staff for Price. 

“When I saw that the same person is running and that South Central is once again looking at another four years of being neglected, I said, 'Heck no.’ I'm running to ensure that we have a city council member that answers your calls and solves your issues; that invests in affordable housing, economic development and jobs for our youth; that we clean encampments around schools, churches and parks; and that we transform South L.A. by turning empty lots into parks, gardens and safe places where our street vendors can sell their goods and food without being out in the sun.” 

Estuardo Mazariegos

Mazariegos, born in Guatemala, was brought to L.A. as a child. He is the current co-director of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) in L.A. He is endorsed by the Los Angeles Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and LA Forward.

During his opening statement, Mazariegos focused on introducing himself to attendees and talking about his labor organizing work, which he said he hopes to bring to CD-9, a district that is among the most impoverished in L.A., with a roughly 37% poverty rate. 

“I've been organizing in the ninth city district and throughout California for the past 20 years as a community organizer and as a labor organizer, fighting to make sure that our workers have dignified workplaces and our communities have the services that they need, that we lower the cost of housing, that we increase the wages for the people in Los Angeles, that we create more green space in our neighborhoods and that we have transparent government structures,” he said. “Here in the ninth district, for far too long, we've seen leadership, political leadership that's been purely extractive and not accountable to the community. We need a change today.” 

Jose Ugarte

The next person to give his opening statement was Ugurte, who, in 2013, managed Price’s 2013 campaign and worked for him on and off since then. He was born in Oaxaca, Mexico and he said his lived experience as an immigrant is one of the primary reasons for his candidacy. 

He is currently being endorsed by U.S. Representative Jimmy Gomez, California State Representative Mark Gonzalez and former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, among others. 

“I was undocumented for 17 years,” Ugarte said in Spanish. “It was when I went to college that I realized that I was undocumented and that I did not have papers. I realized then I was an 'illegal alien,' as they used to say. Since then, I’ve worked to gain my citizenship, worked to be able to continue my education and changed the lives of immigrants in L.A.,” he said.

He told attendees that after college, he began working for former Assemblyman Eddie Rendon, where, according to him, he helped secure $7 million to clean up the water supply in L.A. “We cleaned the water right here in South Central—as well as in Compton, Maywood and Huntington Park—places where the water used to be purple; now, it runs clean,” he said. 

He did not mention Price’s charges for corruption or his own fine, repeatedly failing to disclose outside income he made from his lobbying, but he did say he had worked for him for over a decade. 

“Twelve years ago, I came to this very gymnasium and helped open it; my image appears in one of the photos commemorating that grand opening. I have dedicated almost my entire life to working with these young people. They have helped clean up our streets, revitalized our parks and supported our public safety efforts; and now, here I stand, running for office to ensure that this vital work continues.” 

Jorge Nuño 

In his opening statement, Nuño focused on talking about the intergenerational roots he has established within South Central L.A. He was born and raised in South Central L.A. and is the son of Mexican immigrants from Jalisco. 

This is the second time that the 49-year-old has run for CD-9. The first time was in 2017 when he was closest to Price. Nuño has also run for the county Board of Supervisors in 2020, but lost in the primary. He hopes this year the outcomes will be different. 

“My son is 18 years old. We have three generations here in South Central Los Angeles. I raised my family here and I attended schools here. I am a business owner. I have a business in graphic design and printing. I'm an entrepreneur,” he told attendees. 

He also talked about “The Big House,” which serves as the office for his graphic design firm, NTS Communications, but which also, for years, has been used as a community space for other entrepreneurs and organizations, hosting cooking classes, dance classes and youth organizing summits, among other events. 

“We have given workshops for the last 20 years, providing a safe space for young people. I actually started The Big House by opening a skate park in my driveway and for the last 20 years, we've provided technology for young people, programs to help youth and foster youth, and taught kids how to be master gardeners and cooks,” he said. “My house has been open for 20 years, serving the community and that's why I wanted to be a leader in my community, to be a servant leader.”

Marta Sánchez

Sánchez, a professor, marriage and family therapist and community organizer, was the last one to address the crowd with her opening statement. Sánchez grew up in Jalisco, Mexico and came to the U.S. as an adult. She is also a professor at L.A. Mission College and is currently the only woman running in CD-9.

“I have been in this community for the last 30 years. I was born and raised in Calexico, Mexico. I've been organizing in this community for the last 25 years in all things that you can imagine: housing, schools and safety. I've been doing a lot of work, just as a volunteer, but the most important thing is that I've been getting into every single family home to learn and understand their struggles,” she said. 

She also talked about how she grew up taking care of her own siblings as her mother went to work. She said this type of care is what she wants to replicate if elected to represent CD-9. “I learned to take care of others very deeply and I'm not willing to do anything different. I'm running because I know this land. I've been working day in, day out on many topics without cameras, without recording,” she said.

She told attendees the reason she decided to run for councilmember is not to be a politician but because she wants to “continue serving the people that I love.”

June 2 and other important dates

The first vote centers will open for early in-person voting in all Voter’s Choice Act counties on May 23, 2026. In addition, in-person early voting locations throughout California will open on Saturday, May 30, 2026, with June 2 being the last day to vote in-person or return a ballot by 8 p.m. Vote-by-mail ballots must be postmarked no later than June 2.

All candidates present at Friday’s forum also sent a message to undecided voters in CD-9. 

The next CD-9 forum will take place at A Place Called Home in South Central L.A., starting at 10 a.m.