De León faces Jurado in LA City Council reelection fight after scandal led to calls for his resignation
Two years after a scandal over a racist recording led to calls for his resignation, Kevin de León is fighting to keep his Los Angeles City Council seat in a race against political newcomer Ysabel Jurado.
De León, a longtime Democratic state lawmaker, was elected to the City Council in 2020 after losing his bid for Sen. Dianne Feinstein's U.S. Senate seat in the 2018 election. He had served eight years in the California Senate, including four leading the legislative body as state senate president pro tem, after a four-year run in the state Assembly.
Jurado has touted her work as an attorney for tenants facing evictions and other advocacy work for affordable housing in her campaign to lead the district. While she has never held public office, she managed to get the most votes in March's top-two primary.
District with a history of scandal
Over the years, leadership of Council District 14 has been mired in controversy — before De León, the Eastside district was led by José Huizar, who was convicted in a public corruption case and sentenced to 13 years in federal prison earlier this year.
During De León's tenure, he weathered scandal in the fall of 2022 when he was heard on a leaked audio recording with then-City Council President Nury Martinez, former councilman Gil Cedillo and ex-LA County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera making racist comments about then-Councilman Mike Bonin's son, who is Black. He faced calls to resign from fellow city leaders, but refused to step down.
"I have to do the really damn hard work to repair and restore, you know, the breach of trust," he said in an interview with CBS News Los Angeles at the time.
A new audio recording
Meanwhile, just weeks before the election, an audio recording surfaced from a meeting between Jurado and Cal State LA students in which she is heard saying in response to a question about police spending: "What's the rap verse? F— the police, that's how I see 'em." The remark drew criticism from interim Los Angeles Police Department Interim Chief Dominic Choi and the union representing LAPD officers, the Los Angeles Police Protective League.
"In a meeting with students at Cal State LA, I quoted a lyric from a song that's been part of a larger conversation on systemic injustice and police accountability for decades," Jurado said in a statement, alluding to a song by rap group N.W.A. "But it was just a lyric — and I'm proud to be accessible to young people and students..."
The student who asked the question is a staff member in De León's office, which the councilman confirmed in an interview with CBS News Los Angeles.
"Let me underscore, let me highlight, let me italicize this, let me put it out there in bold — she fell into it," he said. "It was an open forum, he went there on his own accord and he asked the question."
Where De León and Jurado stand on the issues
Both candidates have vowed to tackle homelessness and expand affordable housing in the district encompassing areas of northeast Los Angeles spanning from Eagle Rock to Boyle Heights. And both have referred to gentrification as a concern, pointing to the displacement of longtime residents in the district.
De León has helped facilitate the construction of housing for homeless residents during his time in office, including 2,000 units and beds, and has promised to build affordable housing developments and expand tenant protections. Jurado has also called for expanding housing and safeguards for tenants, in addition to a proposal to buy back real estate in lower income communities where residents face displacement by housing costs.
She has emphasized giving housing resources and help to tenants before they are displaced, outlining policy proposals including a rent control policy tied to wages, a housing bank that would offer low-interest loans and a vacancy tax that would drive property owners to either rent or sell.
As he fights to keep his seat, De León has criticized Jurado's stance on crime and public safety, accusing her of advocating for the abolishment of police during a recent debate hosted by the Boyle Heights Beat.
"I support more police for the safety of our community," he said. "My opponent wants to abolish the police altogether…"
"I just want to be clear that I've never said that," Jurado said in response, saying that LAPD's staff is tasked with "too many duties that are not within the purview of what they're assigned to do" including as mental health and homeless outreach workers.
"That shouldn't be the case," she said.
Among De León's campaign promises are the construction of 18 new playgrounds and two new parks. He's also touted his launch of a fresh free food program for district residents, a 24-member cleanup team that clears city streets of trash and debris and putting $500,000 toward subsidizing child care camps at recreation centers during holidays.
Jurado has promised to work with the state to increase monthly allotments for food assistance programs such as SNAP. She has also said she would more strongly enforce laws protecting labor rights, and introduce new community-based programs to tackle the issues of climate change, LGBTQ+ rights and housing.
She has said money to settle police misconduct lawsuits should be taken from LAPD's pension fund and that spending should be redirected away from military-grade weapons and tanks for police and put toward housing, education, job training and mental health resources.