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The Chacon family are political gatekeepers

Hector Chacon visits with his mother, Paula Sarinana, 75, in Commerce. Chacon, 44, along with his nieces, nephews, brothers and sisters, has run or worked on more than 100 campaigns, including heated races for city councils, water districts and school boards. Three family members, including Chacon himself, have won public office.

Hector Chacon visits with his mother, Paula Sarinana, 75, in Commerce. Chacon, 44, along with his nieces, nephews, brothers and sisters, has run or worked on more than 100 campaigns, including heated races for city councils, water districts and school boards. Three family members, including Chacon himself, have won public office.  (Francine Orr/ Los Angeles Times)

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In the bruising political world of southeast Los Angeles County, 44-year-old Hector Chacon and his family are admired and feared. They are go-to campaign gurus with checkered pasts whom candidates hire when they want to break into politics -- or bat down a challenge from an upstart.
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Working at home

Hector Chacon in his home office in East Los Angeles. His family’s turf, a region of overwhelmingly Latino cities with large immigrant populations, has made headlines in recent years -- and not the good kind. Corruption scandals have burned in cities such as Bell, Commerce, Montebello and South Gate.  (Francine Orr/ Los Angeles Times)

Returning to his roots

Hector Chacon pays a visit to Ramona Gardens, the Boyle Heights housing project where he grew up. In the whirlwind of a political campaign, he says, he feels “like a prizefighter in the ring. You go into a zone.”  (Francine Orr/ Los Angeles Times)

A place full of memories

Hector Chacon at Ramona Gardens. When he was 7, he watched from the family’s second-story apartment as his oldest brother, Lorenzo, was shot by a gang member.  (Francine Orr/ Los Angeles Times)

From Boyle Heights to the Valley

Hector Chacon in his old neighborhood. He was bused to a mostly white school in the suburbs of the San Fernando Valley. Eventually he went to UCLA, where, although he didn’t graduate, he developed a passion for politics.  (Francine Orr/ Los Angeles Times)

With the governor

Hector Chacon, right, president of the Montebello school board, greets Gov. Jerry Brown at the Montebello Applied Technology Center. The Chacons are reluctant to share campaign secrets. “My sister doesn’t like to divulge strategy,” Chacon explained. “She says, ‘If you go to Colonel Sanders, he doesn’t give you the recipe to KFC.’”  (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

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