2020 is going to be a monster election year in Downey. In addition to the presidential election, three City Council and four school board seats are up for grabs.

Here’s a brief rundown:

Councilman Alex Saab (District 5) is being termed out of office. District 5 is a city-wide seat.

Mayor Rick Rodriguez (District 3) is up for re-election. His district encompasses northwest Downey.

Mayor Pro Tem Blanca Pacheco (District 1) is up for re-election. She represents southeast Downey.

School board members Tod Corrin, Don LaPlante, D. Mark Morris and Giggy Perez-Saab are up for re-election. The school district switched to trustee area elections a few years ago but I can’t find a trustee area map on the DUSD website.

It’s assumed that Perez-Saab will run for re-election, since she was elected just last year following the resignation of Willie Gutierrez. It remains to be seen what the others have planned.

Rodriguez and Pacheco also are expected to seek re-election. Both are such strong incumbents it will be surprising if either gets a serious challenger.

The seat to keep an eye on is District 5, since it will be wide open with Saab’s departure.

This is likely the seat Mario Trujillo is contemplating making a run at. Trujillo is a deputy district attorney and part-owner of BRB lounge in Downtown Downey with former councilman Fernando Vasquez. Last night he teased (announced?) a 2020 City Council run on Instagram.

We’re guaranteed to get more challengers between now and July 2020, when the filing period opens.