When the three top-polling candidates for the Los Angeles mayor’s race took the debate stage Wednesday, they proposed their ideas and vision for the entire city. One community that wasn’t clearly represented, though, may be East Los Angeles.
The three candidates all have specific ties to certain neighborhoods: Mayor Karen Bass, a Venice/Fairfax native, worked in South LA for decades as a community organizer and congresswoman. Republican challenger Spencer Pratt lived in the Pacific Palisades before his home was burned down in the Palisades Fire in 2025. LA Councilmember Nithya Raman, who moved to LA 13 years or so, lives in Silver Lake and represents Hollywood Hills and some San Fernando Valley areas.
East Los Angeles neighbors who spoke with NBCLA Thursday wondered which candidate would best represent them and address their key issue: affordability.
Some of the East LA voters said they feel forgotten, especially when everyday seems like a struggle.
“There’s always a crisis, one day or another — like one day, there is no eggs, no tomatoes,” a neighbor named Francisco Valderrama, who owns Picaresca Barra de Cafe on East 4th Street, said. “I think the more attention needs to be taken in our neighborhood. I don’t see anybody.”
Among affordability issues, the cost of housing affects everyone in the area, from homeowners, renters to businesses, neighbors said.
“I actually owned a business for 10 years. It was a fashion boutique, and I was forced to close down because of the rent increase.,” said Wendy Gonzalez. She now runs Pink and Boujee Cafe near Mariachi Plaza with her family.
Gonzalez said while costs continue to rise, no mayoral candidate has moved her to think that her community — where she was born and raised, where she owns a business — would become more affordable.
When it comes to housing, Pratt said he would “clear the street of drug addicts” in downtown LA and turn abandoned buildings into some 20,000 housing units. Bass said she has been pushing for rent stabilization while reducing the price of rent and preventing evictions via the mayor’s fund. Raman, however, criticized the mayor’s housing program, saying it’s been under utilized with a 14% construction rate.
The neighbors welcomed the candidates to come to their areas, meet them on the streets and ask for their votes while looking for real solutions.