Isabel Jurado will be the next Los Angeles City Council member in the 14th District, poised to pull off a surprising upset over incumbent Kevin de Leon.
Mr. Jurado had widened his lead from the start, winning more than 56% of the vote, and as of Friday afternoon, Mr. de Leon had 43% of the vote.
Jurado declared victory in a statement Thursday night and thanked his supporters.
“This victory is not mine. It’s our community’s. It was the community that came together to knock on 83,000 doors. It was the community that mobilized over a thousand volunteers to send a letter. It was the community who wrote and sent in “8,000 postcards,” Jurado said.
Nearly 24 hours after Jurado claimed he was the winner, de Leon made the admission in a statement Friday evening.
“Although the results of this election did not go our way, I respect the decisions of voters and our democratic process. I am proud of what we accomplished together,” the incumbent said.
Mr. Jurado’s rise had already come as a big surprise during the March primaries, with the first-time candidate trailing other prominent candidates such as Mr. de León and Congressmen Miguel Santiago and Wendy Carrillo. It also received a lot of support from voters.
De Leon fought off a recall attempt after he was caught on tape having a closed-doors conversation calling for redistricting while using racial slurs, but was unsuccessful.
Jurado himself was caught on audio saying the F-word while discussing police during a meeting with students at California State University, Los Angeles.
Mr. Jurado, who has the backing of the Democratic Socialist Party of America, aims to cut the police budget while opposing Mayor Bass’ efforts to restore LAPD staffing levels to previous levels.
At one point, Jurado admitted that he had signed the Democratic Socialists of America pledge calling for the abolition of the LAPD.
