Your last-minute guide to L.A. City Council races: Districts 3 and 9
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There are two Los Angeles City Council races that will be decided in the November election.
One is in the San Fernando Valley, where public safety, reducing homelessness, providing more affordable housing and spurring economic development have emerged as top issues.
The other is in South L.A. and will make history. For the first time since 1963, a politician who is not Black will represent a large swath of South Los Angeles on the City Council. Curren Price, who has held the District 9 seat for 13 years, could not run again because of term limits. Both candidates in the race are Latin American immigrants. The candidates diverge on policing, homelessness and housing — from boosting LAPD ranks and enforcing encampment bans to cutting the police budget and prioritizing tenant protections and basic services.
District 9
The 9th District stretches from the western edge of downtown L.A. to the Convention Center, USC and neighborhoods along the Harbor Freeway, including Vermont Square, South Park and Florence-Graham.
- Estuardo Mazariegos has worked as a community organizer for decades and says he’s running to improve the quality of life in the city, including by making housing more affordable and spending money on basic services other than policing. He is backed by the L.A. chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. He was born in Guatemala.
- Jose Ugarte was a community organizer for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, helping union members register to vote, before going to work for Price. He was born in Oaxaca and is Mazateco — an Indigenous group native to the Mexican state. If elected, he would become the first Indigenous Oaxacan council member.
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Former deputy chief of staff to sitting Councilmember Curren Price, Jose Ugarte, is challenging local labor organizer Estuardo Mazariegos in a South L.A. district.
District 3
Council District 3 includes the southwestern San Fernando Valley communities of Woodland Hills, Reseda, Tarzana and Canoga Park. It also includes Warner Center, a commercial hub in Woodland Hills with a massive development plan a decade in the making.
- Tim Gaspar founded what became one of the largest independent insurance companies in the Valley. He worked for nonprofit and community groups: Discovery Cube Los Angeles, the YMCA and the West Valley/Warner Center Chamber of Commerce. He’s been endorsed by developer Rick Caruso, the police union and Supervisor Kathryn Barger.
- Barri Worth Girvan is a longtime city and county employee with nearly 20 years working in public service. Prior to running, she was L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath’s district director for three years, handling constituent services on the Westside and in the Valley. She’s been endorsed by the L.A. County Democratic Party and labor unions.
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Tim Gaspar and Barri Worth Girvan oppose each other to represent the southwest San Fernando Valley, after Bob Blumenfield, who held the city council seat since 2013, is termed out.
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