Raina Carrillo was 15 years old when, tired of what she saw as police brutality in Inglewood, she decided that one day she would become the city’s mayor.
“That stuck with me ever since,” said Carrillo, who works with youth and is a lifelong Inglewood resident.
Carrillo announced her plans to run for mayor last year on Instagram. This campaign is her second after wrapping up with just under 12% of the vote in the 2022 mayoral race.
She’s one of at least three people to publicly declare that they’ll be competing to replace four-term Inglewood Mayor James Butts in the city’s Nov. 3 general election.
Carrillo said she wants Inglewood residents to have more of a say-so in big city decisions.
“We don’t have the community voice currently,” she said. “They should be able to participate and share what their feelings are.”
Arturo Martinez and Fre’Drisha “Shá” Dixon have also announced mayoral campaigns.
Butts has not publicly announced if he will seek reelection this year. He declined an interview directly after Tuesday’s city council meeting.
No candidate has officially filed paperwork to run, as the filing period for Inglewood elections has yet to open. City Clerk Aisha Thompson said Tuesday that she plans to officially open election season next week, with a filing window to open up sometime in July.
The mayoral race is one of a handful on the ballot this year. Inglewood voters will go to the polls for a June 2 special election to decide if the city should re-legalize some “safe and legal” fireworks.
In November, voters will pick councilmembers for City Council Districts 1 and 2, along with three trustees for the Inglewood Unified School District Board of Education.
