Updated: 5:30 p.m. on June 10, 2026
Jose Ugarte and Estuardo Mazariegos have declared victory in the primary election to replace LA City Councilmember Curren D. Price Jr. in District 9.
Though the official count is ongoing, returns as of Tuesday showed Ugarte with 39.76% of votes and Mazariegos with 25.59%. The four other candidates on the ballot trailed behind, with around 10% or less of votes.
If the official results maintain that standing, Ugarte and Mazariegos will go head-to-head in the Nov. 3 general election.
“This campaign is about bringing South Central into City Hall. From day one, we’ve believed that our opponent in this race isn’t any person or interest: it’s apathy and disillusionment. … Get some rest. See you in the general,” Mazariegos said on Monday in a message on Instagram to his supporters.
The field of candidates to represent the district — which stretches from downtown LA through South Central — was one of the election’s most crowded. Price was first elected to represent the area in 2013 and had reached his term limit.
In a June 5 social media post, Ugarte also thanked his supporters for earning him a first-place finish, and he applauded the other candidates.
“Democracy works best when voters have real choices and the opportunity to hear different ideas, perspectives, and visions for our community,” he said on Instagram. “I appreciate each of them for stepping forward and participating in this process.”
LA’s 15 councilmembers hold most of the city’s policy-making power, setting a course for everything from parking tickets to the city budget.
District 9 includes some of the city’s landmark entertainment hubs — including Exposition Park, the LA Memorial Coliseum and Crypto.com Arena — but residents say the district struggles with basic problems from public safety to illegal trash dumping.
Those issues were near the top of the priority list on the campaign trail this year. You can read the candidates’ positions in The LA Local’s CD9 voter guide.
This election marks a big change in District 9. The district has long been a hub for Black political power in LA, but voters are poised to choose its first non-Black councilmember since 1963. Chris Martin and Jasmine Harris, who are running as certified write-in candidates because they did not qualify for the ballot, are the only Black candidates still campaigning.
Here’s who ran
Ugarte, a longtime deputy of Price, picked up the outgoing councilmember’s endorsement along with several well-established backers, including councilmembers Heather Hutt, Tim McOsker, Adrin Nazarian and Monica Rodriguez.
Other candidates brought a variety of backgrounds.
Elmer Roldan runs education nonprofit Communities In Schools of Los Angeles and drew support from Mayor Karen Bass and City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson.
On Tuesday, he called on whoever advanced to the November election to improve the district for its residents.
“The challenges facing neighborhoods in Council District 9 are too important to ignore and the interests vying for power and influence need to focus on the people who live, work, attend school and worship here — not the outside forces who got them this far,” he said in a message to The LA Local.
Mazariegos, co-director of Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, is running as part of the city-wide slate of Democratic Socialists of America candidates that includes current City Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez and Hugo Soto-Martinez.
Martha Sanchez is an educator and therapist. She acknowledged Ugarte and Mazariegos’ lead on Tuesday.
“Now I’m looking forward to witness an honorable, clean and transparent [campaign] where real community members are engaged and centered on issues impacting our families,” she told The LA Local.
Jorge Nuño told The LA Local he runs a printing business and a community gathering spot out of his home called the Big House.
Early results showed Nuño in third place, holding around 10% of votes, a result he called disappointing but not surprising.
“Unfortunately, money and institutional support mattered more than many residents would like to admit,” he told The LA Local in a text message. “That said, I’m hopeful. Thousands of people engaged in this process, many for the first time. The demand for accountable leadership in South Los Angeles is real, and it isn’t going away. My work in the community will continue long after the campaign is over.”
Jorge Hernandez-Rosas is an educator and therapist. He told The LA Local on Tuesday that his “campaign was never about politics it was about people,” and that while this is not the outcome he hoped for, he fully respects the voters’ decision.
“While the election may be over, my commitment to South Los Angeles remains unchanged,” he wrote in a statement. “I will continue serving our families, advocating for safer neighborhoods, cleaner streets, better opportunities for our youth, and greater accountability from our leaders.”
Martin is a civil rights attorney. He wrote in a statement Wednesday that it’s “premature to make any declarations” before a significant portion of his vote total has been reported.
“No matter the final result, this campaign resonated with a lot of people,” he wrote.
Jasmine Harris, the other write-in, congratulated Ugarte and Mazariegos and that whoever wins “remembers who actually built the district.”
“Black, Latino, undocumented, Asian, Muslim, and working‑class families who have struggled and are striving to overcoming together,” Harris wrote. “The focus should be on resources and solutions for everyone, not on headlines that reduce us to a two‑race narrative.”
