Welcome to The Election Beat, a weekly newsletter bringing you news and information about the election and uplifting the voices of readers like you.
Hola Boyle Heights,
We’re 12 days away from Election Day – but who’s counting?
For the last three months, our Boyle Heights Beat reporters and community engagement team have been speaking to residents in L.A.’s Council District 14 about the election.
We visited places where people gather: bars, run clubs, election debates, watch parties and community events.
We spent time with a group of retirees enjoying their morning cafecito at McDonald’s in Boyle Heights and with señoras getting their hair done at a neighborhood beauty salon. We set up listening posts at local farmers markets and joined in during loteria games at senior centers.
Each week, we highlighted those community voices in this newsletter. Today we launched a compilation page to share their perspectives.
Below is a snippet from some of the voices we captured during this election season. You can read more on our CD 14 Voices page curated by our associate editor Alex Medina.
‘A danger to democracy’: Overhead during cafecito & politics
Soon after an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in July, five retired men in their 60s sat at a McDonald’s in Boyle Heights to talk politics. It was their morning ritual.
“The shooter had bad aim. I don’t think he knew how to use it,” said 67-year-old Benny Gastelum with a cup of McCafe in hand.
“In politics there is a hatred that exists between both of them,” said a man who sat beside Gastelum, speaking of the bipartisan American system he felt encouraged the violent act. The local resident, who chose not to share his name, said he’s most concerned about the state of the job market impacted by political troubles.
“There are some who want improvement for the people and there are others who want improvement just to make money in the stock market. That’s what I think because as it is right now, life here is expensive,” he said.
To Gastelum’s left, Victor Zarate, 65, brought the topic back to the Republican presidential nominee.
“Donald Trump is a danger to democracy in this country. He and the Republicans are taking power in an almost undemocratic way. Now, Trump is gaining popularity through hate, through confrontation,” said Zarate.
“It’s a very different way of doing politics.”
By Andrew Lopez. Read more>>>
First-time voter: ‘This is our future’
Eighteen-year-old Eztli De Jesus will be voting for the first time next month.
The daughter of undocumented immigrants from Mexico, De Jesus is the first in her family to vote. Raised in Boyle Heights, she grew up going to community events, protests and rallies and as a child was introduced to spaces like Self Help Graphics & Art and Las Fotos Project, which nurtured her passion for social justice and community engagement.
“Growing up with undocumented parents and watching them want to put their voices out there but not being able to is huge… It means a lot to make my voice heard,” said De Jesus.
Despite not being able to vote, her parents always stressed the importance of voting and research candidates to help their daughter make informed decisions.
She admits some young voters are apathetic and thinks out-of-touch politicians are to blame.
“Our government is made up of all these old white men,” she said. “They’re stuck on the same old ideologies. Politicians make it all about themselves, but in reality, this is our future we’re talking about.”
By Kamren Curiel. Read more>>>
Beauty salon chisme
On a recent Friday morning a group of women gathered at Norma’s Beauty Salon on Cesar Chavez Avenue for scheduled hair appointments. In between perms and haircuts – and a little chisme- the women identified public safety, sidewalk maintenance and homelessness as their top local issues.
Norma Alicia Galindo, who has owned the beauty salon for decades, said she and several of her clients have been injured on broken sidewalks in the neighborhood. “I went to complaint and they told me they didn’t have funds to fix [the sidewalks].”
The group spent time weighing who would be best suited to lead Council District 14 and address those issues. Juana Perez, a 59-year-old home healthcare worker, said she didn’t know much about candidate Ysabel Jurado but has noticed incumbent Kevin de León “doing more for us here in Boyle Heights.”
Galicia, didn’t yet seem sure she knew who she supported, but also hadn’t heard much about De León’s opponent.
“Maybe if a new person comes in, whoever that is, they will do better than he did or finish what [De León] started,” said Galindo. “If he stays then I hope he continues to do the community work he’s been doing.”
By Carol Martinez. Read more>>>
More Election News
Ysabel Jurado’s police F-bomb and the state of the CD 14 race
Ysabel Jurado, who is seeking to unseat to unseat Kevin De León in L.A.’s 14th Council District, took heat this week after an audio recording captured her saying “F— the police.” Jurado said she was quoting a lyric from a song in response to a question about her stance on police abolition during a meeting with Cal State L.A. students. As expected, the police union wasn’t very happy. (Read more at Boyle Heights Beat)
It’s unclear whether Jurado’s comment will hurt her campaign. The tenant rights attorney has made a case for change in a district that struggles with housing affordability and homelessness, amid continued calls for De León to resign over his own participation in a leaked conversation that included racist and derogatory remarks. If elected, the daughter of Filipino immigrants will mark a shift in a district with a history of male Latino leadership. (Read more at Boyle Heights Beat)
But De León isn’t backing down. The incumbent is counting on voters across the Eastside to keep him in office. Two years after the L.A. City Council scandal, some community members aren’t letting the 57-year-old politician off easy. De León is arming himself with a war chest of strategies – some used by previous politicians – and proclaiming that he has moved past the scandal. (Read more at Boyle Heights Beat)
Key Dates
- Oct. 26: Select vote centers open
Vote centers will open on this day for early in-person voting in all Voter’s Choice Act counties. Find your Los Angeles location here.
- Oct. 29: Last day to request a replacement mail-in ballot
If you made a mistake on your mail-in ballot, you can request a replacement mail-in ballot by filing an application by this day. You can find the replacement application here.
- Nov. 5: Election Day
Same-day voter registration for Election Day and last day for mail-in votes to arrive at county election offices.
Community Events
Last week, we hosted VoterChat at our newsroom in Boyle Heights. It was a chance for people to have an intimate space to ask questions about the election.
With a little help from our friends at LAist and CalMatters, we helped community members break down what’s on the ballot via voter guides and 1-minute explainer videos. We loved seeing the civic engagement- it even got competitive during the closing trivia round. I mean, who doesn’t love prizes?
This closes our election events for this cycle. We hope you enjoyed joining our events as much as we did.
¡Hasta luego, Boyle Heights!
Jessica Perez, Senior Editor
