Community relations manager Imelda Padilla will join the Los Angeles City Council in August following its recess after winning the special election to fill the Sixth District seat vacated by Nury Martinez’s resignation.
Padilla defeated City Council aide Marisa Alcaraz 56.74%-43.26%, 6,684-5,096, according to semifinal official returns released Tuesday night by the Los Angeles Country Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.
Turnout was 10.04%.
“As someone who has been a community organizer and coalition builder in the Valley for 20 years, I am ready to be the community’s champion in L.A. City Council to ensure that we get our fair share of resources to thrive,” Padilla told City News Service in an email.
During the campaign, Padilla pledged to prioritize “an immediate solution to the unhoused crisis because what is currently occurring is not working.”
“I will propose an emergency remediation of encampments, connecting the unhoused population to essential services that will support them in finding housing, employment, and health services,” Padilla said on her campaign’s website.
“I will work cohesively with all stakeholders, residents, non-profits organizations, religious leaders, business owners and health organizations to develop and implement sensible hyper-local solutions that make our communities safer, sanitary, and sustainable.”
Padilla was born in Van Nuys and raised in Sun Valley, graduating from Roscoe Elementary School, Byrd Middle School and Polytechnic High School. She received a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree from Cal State Northridge.
Alcaraz told City News Service late Tuesday morning she was “proud of the campaign we’ve run, the endorsements that we have, and the team that we’ve built.”
The 38-year-old Alcaraz is deputy chief of staff and environmental policy director to Ninth District Councilman Curren Price. She was raised in Lake Balboa and graduated from Birmingham High School. She received a bachelor’s degree from UC Irvine and a master’s degree from USC.
Padilla finished first in the April 4 primary with 25.65% of the vote but fell short of a majority, necessitating the runoff against Alcaraz, who was second in the seven-candidate field with 21.13%.
District 6 consists of Van Nuys, Arleta, Lake Balboa, Panorama City, Sun Valley and the eastern portions of North Hills and North Hollywood.
Martinez represented the district until October, when she resigned first her Council presidency and then, two days later, her seat altogether after she was caught making racist comments in a meeting that was secretly taped and leaked to the news media.
Padilla will finish Martinez’s term, which ends in December 2024.