Assemblyman Santiago to challenge Councilman de León

Assemblyman Miguel Santiago announced Friday he will challenge embattled City Councilman Kevin de León in next year’s election, following de León’s participation in a leaked, racist audio recording.

Santiago called running against a longtime ally and friend “a difficult decision but Los Angeles needs to heal and our neighborhoods are desperate for effective representation.”

“The time for change in Los Angeles’ 14th District is now,” Santiago, D-Los Angeles, said in a statement. “The current councilmember’s refusal to respect the overwhelming calls to step down, from the people he is supposed to serve all the way to the president of the United States, is holding back the progress we need on homelessness, housing and the economic recovery we need in our neighborhoods.

There was no immediate response Friday night to calls and emails to de León’s City Council office seeking a response to Santiago’s announcement.

De León, then-Council President Nury Martinez, then-Councilman Gil Cedillo, and Ron Herrera, president of the LA County Federation of Labor, were caught participating in a backroom conversation discussing ways to disenfranchise Black voters through a redistricting process and making racist comments that was secretly recorded and leaked to the news media.

In the aftermath, Martinez resigned her council presidency, and then her seat altogether. Herrera also resigned his post, while Cedillo ultimately left the council at the end of his term after losing his bid for reelection in June.

De León has defied continued calls for his resignation but has been stripped by the council of major committee assignments and largely shunned by council colleagues.

An attempt to recall de León failed last week to receive the necessary number of signatures to qualify for the ballot.

“Through thick and thin, our community remains focused on the important battles at hand like homelessness, strengthening our local businesses, and protecting working families,” de León in a statement regarding the failed recall attempt.

The primary election for the seat will be held in March and a runoff, if necessary, in November 2024.

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