| Imelda Padilla | |
| Office: | Member of the Los Angeles City Council from the 6th district |
| Term Start: | July 5, 2023 |
| Predecessor: | Nury Martinez |
| Birth Place: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Education: | University of California, Berkeley (BA) California State University, Northridge (MA) |
Imelda G. Padilla (born 1987) is an American politician who is currently a member of the Los Angeles City Council representing the 6th district since 2023.[1] [2] She had previously ran for the Los Angeles Unified School District's Board of Education for the 6th district, losing to Kelly Gonez in the runoff election.[3]
Elected in the 2023 Los Angeles special election to replace Nury Martinez, Padilla previously worked as a community relations manager.[4]
Padilla was born in 1987 in Van Nuys and raised in Sun Valley, a first-generation Mexican-American with her father being a gardener and her mother working at an airplane factory. One of several children, Padilla has stated that she had followed her older sisters towards doing community service. She attended John H. Francis Polytechnic High School, with her sisters introducing her to the L.A. City Youth Council when she was in ninth grade.[5] While attending public schools, she had rickets and was bullied by other kids.[6] [7] She then attended and graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a bachelor's degree, later graduating from California State University, Northridge with a master's degree.[8] [9] She worked on engagement for the L.A. County’s Women and Girls Initiative, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, and Pacoima Beautiful, as well as being a field deputy for councilmember Nury Martinez.[10]
In 2016, Padilla announced that she would be running for LAUSD's Board of Education for the 6th district, which was being vacated by Monica Ratliff's run for City Council, stating that various people had come to her asking her to run. She was backed by United Teachers Los Angeles and other unions.[11] [12] In the primary election, she was behind Kelly Gonez, a schoolteacher who was backed by the California Charter School Association, and they went into a runoff.[13] [14] In the general election, Padilla lost against Gonez.[15]
In 2022, Padilla announced that she would be running for Los Angeles City Council for the 6th district, which was vacated by incumbent Nury Martinez due to her involvement in a scandal.[16] She was endorsed by councilmember Monica Rodriguez as well as former councilmembers Joy Picus and Tony Cárdenas, all of them with districts in the San Fernando Valley where the 6th district is also located.[17] Some people criticized her for her closeness with Nury Martinez, working for her while Martinez was the director for Pacoima Beautiful and while she was a councilmember.[5] In the primary election, Padilla led the candidates in first place as three others fought for second place; she eventually faced Marisa Alcaraz in the runoff election.[18] In the runoff election, Padilla took an early lead and later defeated Alcaraz.[19] The same day she declared victory, Council President Paul Krekorian introduced a motion to appoint her to the seat before the results were certified as well as naming her as caretaker before the certification.[20]