From a dimly packed warehouse riddled with graffiti in the heart of the city, DJs spun the hardest beats to a crowd that gathered around a makeshift stage at Downtown LA’s famed Clifton’s Cafeteria.
Enter: Ysabel Jurado and Kevin de León, stepping up to the mic with one goal: to win the respect of the people of City District 14.
And then the beat dropped…
“Yo, yo, Yo—they call me the Mix Master K… I’m the King of the scene and I can’t be beat… District 14, I’ve been grindin’ for years, throwing big parties—blood, sweat, and tears.”
“Steady your throne? Nah, that’s a fallacy.
District 14, yeah, they callin’ Lil’ Yazzy.
You got history, boo, but don’t get it twisted.
We don’t want racists; that’s why I enlisted.”
And that was the mic drop that rocked DTLA history.
Remixing de León’s leaked taped scandal with her support for renters and union workers, Ysabel Jurado became the next Los Angeles City Councilmember for District 14, winning the crown and making her the political voice of El Sereno, Boyle Heights, Eagle Rock, Highland Park, and Downtown Los Angeles.
Achieving a surprising victory over incumbent Kevin de León. Jurado steadily widened her lead, ultimately receiving over 56% of the vote compared to de León’s 43% of the vote.
On Thursday evening, Jurado announced her victory in a statement expressing gratitude to her supporters. “This win is not mine—it belongs to our community. It was the community that came together to knock on over 83,000 doors; it was the community that mobilized into a thousand-plus army of volunteers; it was the community that wrote and sent over 8,000 postcards,” she stated.
Nearly 24 hours after Jurado’s declaration, de León conceded in a Friday evening statement. “While the results of this election did not go our way, I respect the decision of the voters and our democratic process. I am proud of what we’ve accomplished together,” the former councilmember said.
Jurado’s rise had already surprised many during the March primary, where the first-time candidate garnered more support than de León and other prominent figures, including Assemblymembers Miguel Santiago and Wendy Carrillo. De León, who had previously overcome recall attempts after being caught on tape in a controversial redistricting discussion using racist language, fell short in his re-election bid.
Jurado herself faced some criticism after a recording surfaced in which she used the F-word while discussing the police in a meeting with students at Cal State LA.
That didn’t sit well with downtown voters who deal with mental illness and rapid crime and who’ve been calling for an increase in police presence for almost a decade.
Although she faced backlash for her words, it ultimately didn’t stop her from claiming victory over de León. However, it did spark some panic among downtown residents who felt that Lil Yazzy might lack the experience—or even the willingness—to develop productive relationships with the police to help tackle the area’s crime issues.
Be careful what you wish for.
Like any ambitious leader ready to take on the thrown, Ysabel Jurado now faces the reality of her new role.
Work. Work, and more… Work.
The job will demand a lot—constant pressure and relentless scrutiny from the public over every decision, with every word and action likely to be dissected in the media. And then there’s… social media.
She’ll be bombarded with public demands as well as the kindest of requests and held to a higher standard of integrity. Above all, she’ll have to place the job and the people above her own interests, less fall into the same fate as her CD14 predecessors.
Oh. How tempting.
Jurado will be picking up where de Leon left off, towing the future of downtown’s aspirations. She’ll have to blend seamlessly with existing leadership, developers, local press, residents, business owners, the tourism industry, and the conservationists, within a whirlwind of longstanding downtown nemeses—homelessness, public safety, and transportation infrastructure issues that date back over a decade.
Hopefully, she’ll know how to throw a great party. Welcome to DOWNTOWN!
