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Los Angeles City Council racist leak eventually catches up to Kevin de León

In November 2018, Kevin de León’s insurgent candidacy for the U.S. Senate resulted in a defeat to Dianne Feinstein, the legendary and groundbreaking San Francisco politician.

At the time, De León was completing his term in the state Senate, had risen to president pro tempore, and even earned the endorsement of the California Democratic Party.

He finished with just over 5 million votes and the future looked bright for a still relatively young (then 51) but experienced lawmaker.

As of Saturday morning, De León tallied a little more than 28,000 votes, likely on his way to defeat in the smaller but important Los Angeles City Council District 14 race. He conceded on Friday.

His likely defeat will conclude a dark chapter in Los Angeles politics tied to his involvement in the November 2022 Los Angeles City Council audio leak that included racist comments and insults against Black people, Oaxacans, Jews, Armenians and others. The reworking of the city’s redistricting process in favor of Latinos was also talked about in detail.

Within days, council President Nury Martinez and Ron Herrera, L.A. County Federation of Labor president, resigned while city Councilmember Gil Cedillo left office within weeks, having lost his reelection campaign.

De León was the lone survivor, not up for reelection for more than a year. Yet, he ultimately will not advance to a second term, leaving a once impressive career in flux.

De León championed more Latino political power, but ended up shrinking their reach

My colleagues David Zahniser and Dakota Smith detailed a familiar theme for De León throughout his campaign: persevering and expanding Latino power.

De León was captured on the recording saying he wanted to make sure his Eastside district “remains Latino” even after he’s gone. He bemoaned the lack of political clout wielded by Latinos in L.A., especially when compared with the Black community.

Ironically, his defeat in Tuesday’s election after a single four-year term will leave Latinos occupying just four of the council’s 15 seats — at a time when they make up about half of the city’s population.

Tenant rights attorney Ysabel Jurado declared victory over De León on Thursday, with a widening double-digit lead in a district stretching from downtown to Eagle Rock. She will be the first Filipino American to serve on the City Council.

Jurado’s victory means that the 14th District, with heavily Mexican American areas such as Boyle Heights and El Sereno, will not have a Latino representative for the first time since 1985.

The Eastside just wanted to move away from the scandal

Jurado said her victory will allow the city to “finally close this chapter in L.A. history and move past the tapes.”

Throughout the campaign, Jurado hammered De León over his participation in the secretly recorded conversation, which took place in 2021 and became public in 2022.

De León apologized in 2022, and while running for reelection, for what he said and what he didn’t say during the conversation. In legal filings, however, he was defiant, saying he “never made any comment that was even remotely offensive.”

Jurado said she disagreed with De León’s emphasis on shoring up Latino power, which she said “sowed racial division.”

A candidate who represented them

The daughter of unauthorized immigrants, Jurado said her life story — she grew up in Highland Park, became a single mom at 18 and relied on food stamps — resonated throughout the district.

“We built a big tent — a multigenerational, multiracial, multiethnic coalition of people, which just reflected my upbringing,” she said.

City Councilman Hugo Soto-Martínez, who campaigned for Jurado, said she talked about issues that Latinos care about, such as the need for “good union jobs.”

“Her immigrant story resonated with the Latino community,” he said.

For more on this developing story, check out our report.

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Column One

Column One is The Times’ home for narrative and longform journalism. Here’s a great piece from this week:

(Martina Ibáñez-Baldor / Los Angeles Times; Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

He preened, he hugged, he shook hands and hobnobbed with legends and politicians. Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León was in full campaign mode two days before Tuesday’s election, when voters would decide whether he deserved a second term. The setting wasn’t a restaurant or a neighborhood street: It was the VIP section of a dedication ceremony in Boyle Heights for a towering set of murals featuring the late Dodgers ace Fernando Valenzuela.

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Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.

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Men no longer look at her as a woman to mold, but rather as someone who didn’t drink, didn’t smoke and aged out of being a pinup. He, on the other hand, was no prize and had been in prison for selling drugs. They met for dinner on a first date in which both jumped outside their comfort zone. Read here to find out how this budding relationship progressed.

Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team

Andrew J. Campa, reporter
Carlos Lozano, news editor

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