There are striking similarities between the two women running for the Los Angeles City Council elections on June 27, representing the central and eastern San Fernando Valleys. Both are Democrats in their 30s with master’s degrees and were raised in the Valley by immigrant families from Mexico.

Candidates Marisa Alcaraz and Imelda Padilla also agree on many of the urban issues. Both support a city-mandated minimum wage hike, more police officers and a ban on the homeless from setting up tents near elementary schools.

Voters voting in elections in District 6, which includes all or part of Lake Balboa, Van Nuys, Panorama City, Aleta, North Hills, North Hollywood, and Sun Valley, may not see much difference between candidates.

“To the average voter, they look pretty similar,” said Eric Hakopian, a political consultant who wasn’t involved in the campaign. “In elections like this, especially midsummer elections, whoever has the better turnout program wins.”

Still, one notable contrast is between the candidates’ professional backgrounds. Padilla, 35, has held a variety of positions over the past decade, including working in the medical group for the Los Angeles County Program for Young Women, as a consultant, and briefly as an assistant to the 6th District of the City Council. I’ve come

For the past decade, Alcaraz, 38, has worked as a city official in the South Los Angeles constituency, which is predominantly Latinx and working class.

At a forum in Van Nuys last week, Alcaraz described himself as a “policy geek” who had worked on laws and policies that helped city officials, grocery workers and others.

“At the end of the day, it comes down to who’s going to fight for the working class, that is, for families in the Valley. Who’s going to fight for renters, who’s going to fight for immigrants?” Alcaraz said in an interview. Told. “My track record and what I have done shows that I have always stood up for working class people.”

Padilla said in interviews that she works cleaning up an abandoned grocery store on Sunland Boulevard (one of the many quality-of-life issues she has addressed) and working for the Sun Valley Community Council. advertised that

“My experience in the community will make me a better candidate, knowing how to get to work and prioritize what city hall should do from day one,” Padilla said. said Mr.

The special election was sparked by the resignation of City Council President Nuri Martinez, whose inflammatory comments against her colleagues and various groups over leaked recordings last year sparked outrage.

Alcaraz and Padilla both grew up in the Valley and have the support of a wide range of trade unions, community leaders and politicians. Alcaraz’s supporters claim she works with the city hall to provide resources to the district, while Padiya’s supporters point to her track record of service to the valley.

Alcaraz serves as Chief of Staff to City Councilman Karen Price, who represents the area around the convention center in South Los Angeles and downtown.

Mr. Price was indicted last week on 10 criminal charges (which he called “wrongful”) related to the development vote and the city’s wife’s health insurance. Alcaraz called the charges “sad.”

Alcaraz, who lives in Lake Balboa, worked briefly in the northern San Fernando Valley as a city council aide to former City Councilman Richard Alarcón, helping him address issues such as equestrianism.

In Ms. Price’s office, she spearheaded some of the biggest initiatives by city councilors.

Rudy Espinosa, executive director of economic justice group Inclusive Action for the City, said Alcaraz was pivotal in helping the city pass a street vending ordinance in 2018. The law legalized street selling and was the culmination of years of protests and public hearings supported by immigrant groups.

Mr. Espinosa said Mr. Price’s office was ready to help street sales while other congressional offices were reluctant to touch on the issue. Alcaraz has been “consistently realistic” in pushing the bill forward and helping mobilize other congressional offices to support it, he said.

“There’s a lot of value in being humble and getting the job done,” Espinoza said of Alcaraz’s approach.

Alcaraz’s father, from Tijuana, sold bottled water to drivers suffering from overheating cars on the US-Mexico border, the problem of street sales said in an interview.

Alcaraz also played a key role in advocating for a program called Solid Ground, which helps individuals avoid becoming homeless through financial assistance and counseling.

The program was launched in Los Angeles County in 2018. Shortly thereafter, Alcaraz helped bring the program to the city, said Laetitia Andueza, deputy secretary general of New Economics for Women, a regional economic development group. Solid Ground currently operates in 16 centers around the city.

“She was instrumental in moving us to the city,” said Andueza. “Yes, it has an impact. It helps keep the family stable.”

District 6 candidate Imelda Padilla speaks at a debate in Van Nuys on June 14.

(Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)

Padilla’s supporters point to her activities in District 6. She was part of a group promoting a “clean up, green up” program for unsafe and unhealthy businesses in the Valley and elsewhere in the city.

The ordinance, signed by former Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2016, aims to reduce health risks from industrial operations and traffic pollution.

Padilla, who lives in Sun Valley, has also worked for several nonprofits, including the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, where she helped push the city’s minimum wage.

Ten years ago, she worked as Mr. Martinez’s aide for about a year and a half and did several cleanups in the area.

Padilla knows “the needs of people in this community,” said city councilor Monica Rodriguez. The candidate is a youth organizer, and Rodriguez has worked with Padilla since he worked for former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.

Rodriguez also praised Padilla’s efforts to organize an annual event to help Los Angeles-university high school and middle school students explore college opportunities and careers.

Padilla’s brother was imprisoned when she was 18, she said. As such, she has turned her focus to youth advocacy, noting that there is a shortage of college-educated youth returning to the community to inspire the boys.

“She’s very energetic,” says Thomas Soule, who works with Padilla on the board of trustees of the Los Angeles Valley College Foundation, a nonprofit that’s part of the Los Angeles Community College District. “She always has a lot of good ideas.”

Mr. Padilla serves as chairman of the board and has supported fund-raising activities for students who have entered the country without permission. She took classes at Valley College when she was still in high school, which she said was “a very happy and special place in my heart.”

Voting closes next Tuesday at 8pm. The winner would face re-election for the seat in March 2024, when Martinez’s term was due to expire.