Trujillo, Alvarez hold leads in latest updates

DOWNEY — Mayor Blanca Pacheco and candidates Catherine Alvarez and Mario Trujillo all maintained comfortable leads on election night, all but securing their spots on the City Council.

Pacheco – the sole incumbent in Downey’s 2020 election - carried a comfortable lead in District 1 throughout Tuesday evening with nearly 70% of the vote.

As of Wednesday evening., the mayor had 4,722 (69.66%) votes to Contreras’s 1,918 (30.34%).

District 3 was mainly a contest between Alvarez and candidate Eric Pierce.

Alvarez, founder of the Downey Tenants Union, was leading with 4,134 (48.41%) votes, with Pierce trailing at 3,678 (43.18%).

In citywide District 5, Trujillo, a deputy district attorney, maintained consistent distance between real estate broker and attorney Carrie Uva.

He currently sits with 15,284 (46.94%) votes compared to Uva’s 11,655 (36.02%).

Trujillo said he was “excited” about the results, adding that “we have a lot of work to do.”

“I’m excited about getting to the business of serving and protecting,” said Trujillo. “I think what our residents want most from our city government is a government that protects us and provides services.

“I am so thankful to the voters for giving me the opportunity to continue to serve in the capacity of protecting our families and our community, and allow me to continue to use my background and experience in law enforcement…I’m excited about getting to deliver these services and make our city more efficient.”

Neither Pacheco nor Alvarez responded to calls for comment in time for publication.

School Board

The two active Downey Unified School Board contests provided clear winners in Jose Rodriguez and Giggy Perez-Saab.

In Trustee Area 2, Rodriguez earned 2,270 (47.9%) votes.

His opponents Cathy Ballon-Godinez and Angie Rademaker were unable to catch him, coming in at 1,247 (26.3%) and 1,221 (25.7%) respectively.

Likewise, in Trustee Area 3, Perez-Saab collected a commanding 3,420 (61.41%) votes; over 2,100 more than the next highest vote getter, Carlos Avalos.

Avalos tallied 1,107 (19.91%) of votes, followed by Ethan Matthew Rodriguez at 1,030 (18.68%).

At the congressional level, 40th District Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard’s return was never in question, dominating her opponent with 96,771 (72.98%) of the votes.

As of Thursday morning, about 650,000 ballots had yet to be counted throughout Los Angeles County.