Your guide to the L.A. County District 1 supervisor’s race: Who will replace Hilda Solis?

After more than a decade serving the 1st District, Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis is termed out and must step aside, creating an open contest to represent an area that stretches from Silver Lake through Boyle Heights and the San Gabriel Valley to Pomona.

California

Voter guide to the 2026 California primary election

California’s primary election takes place on June 2. Learn about L.A.’s city and county races and others for state offices.

May 1, 2026

• Elaine Alaniz, public affairs specialist and neighborhood council president

Alaniz, the only Republican in the race, serves as president of the Westlake North Neighborhood Council and previously ran unsuccessfully to represent California’s Assembly District 54.

She also works on an as-needed basis as a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience, according to her LinkedIn profile. She has volunteered with the Los Angeles Mayor’s Crisis Response Team, which provides support during emergencies, according to her campaign website. She says her experience with disaster recovery has shown her how government too often fails to properly serve people in need.

• Noel Almario, family health care consultant

Almario describes herself as a nontraditional political candidate with a background as a birth doula who works as a private consultant helping families navigate the healthcare system. She says the county is facing a “mental health crisis with no end in sight” and too many district residents struggle to afford basic needs, including housing.

• David Argudo, La Puente City Council member

Argudo serves on the La Puente City Council and ran unsuccessfully to defeat Solis for this position in 2022. The website address he listed in his campaign filing does not work, and Argudo did return a phone call and emails from The Times.

• María Elena Durazo, California state senator

Durazo serves in Sacramento representing the 26th Senate District that overlaps with some western parts of L.A. County’s 1st Supervisoral District.

Before entering elected office, Durazo had a long career in the labor movement, including serving as the head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, where she helped elect politicians and push through minimum wage increases. Prior to that role, she led the Los Angeles chapter of Unite Here, the nationwide union for restaurant, hospitality and casino workers.

Durazo received the endorsement of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party.

• Annabella Figueroa Mazariegos, listed as an L.A. County employee on her candidate filing. The Times could find no campaign website for Figueroa Mazariegos, and she could not be reached for comment.

Stretching from downtown Los Angeles and Silver Lake on the west to Pomona in the east, the 1st District is home to nearly 2 million people. It includes Boyle Heights, unincorporated East L.A. and the San Gabriel Valley cities of Montebello, Baldwin Park, Azusa, West Covina and Diamond Bar.

Alaniz: “I’m running because I’ve seen, up close, what happens when systems don’t work the way they should.

“Through my work in disaster recovery and in my own community, I’ve met people trying to navigate government during some of the most difficult moments of their lives, after losing a home, a job or a sense of stability. What I’ve seen is that help often exists, but it doesn’t always reach people in a way that is clear, coordinated or timely.

“I’m running to bring urgency, structure and accountability to a system that should work better for the people it serves.”

Almario: “I am running for this position because I care deeply for my community. As a lifelong resident of Los Angeles, I have seen how poor policy decisions by career politicians continue to leave residents’ needs unmet and their lives unfulfilled. My fellow community members deserve a Supervisor who will fiercely defend their rights and demand transparency in leadership; I am that person.”

Durazo: “As a girl, I picked cotton for pennies and slept under the stars on the back of my dad’s truck. My dream then, as now, was to make things better for ordinary people.

“While my roles have changed, that dream has not.”

One of the biggest challenges facing the county has been budget deficits, caused in large part by wildfire costs, federal funding cuts and big legal settlements.

Almario and Durazo both support the Essential Services Restoration Act, a half-cent sales tax on June’s ballot to help compensate for federal healthcare cuts.

Asked how she would close budget gaps, Almario said the county must conduct greater oversight over its funds and programs to lessen the likelihood of large legal payouts and to “eliminate inefficiencies.”

Durazo said one reason for deficits is the county spends so much on services for low-income residents who can’t afford things like housing and healthcare on their own. As supervisor she would do more to support jobs that pay a living wage, so residents rely less on county services. One way she proposed to do so was to direct county contracts to companies who promise to add jobs that allow people to live a decent life.

“One thing that I truly believe in and have done my whole life is raising wages,” Durazo said.

Alaniz declined an interview, but in response to a Times questionnaire she cited “a growing disconnect between spending and results” as one of the county’s biggest challenges.

“We are investing significant resources, but many residents still feel like their communities are becoming less stable, not more,” she said. “We need to focus on coordination and accountability.”

Durazo also called for more accountability and transparency “to be able to say we are comfortable in how our money is being spent.” And she supports a receivership for L.A. County’s troubled juvenile halls — something California Atty. General Rob Bonta is attempting.

Almario also supports receivership for the juvenile system as well as greater oversight over spending on homelessness.

When it comes to the high cost of living, she wants to establish a free county grocery store for residents and supports a countywide rent freeze until incomes are more in line with housing costs.

“If we don’t do something drastic [like a rent freeze], we are going to have an influx of more unhoused people,” Almario said.

Durazo wants to look more closely at what isn’t working to address homelessness and adjust accordingly.

She also said her focus on jobs that pay a living wage would help families afford more and that she supports additional eviction protections for county residents.

Alaniz: “What I’m most proud of is the work I’ve done in moments when people needed support the most. I’ve been part of disaster response efforts where families and small businesses are trying to recover and rebuild.

“Those experiences stay with you. They shape how you see your responsibility to others.”

Almario: “My years spent as an advocate for women surrounding maternal health are by far my proudest thus far. This country is in a maternity mortality crisis, and almost nobody is talking about it. Policy failures across all 50 states continue to put women’s lives at risk, and I have dedicated my life to uplifting women and girls so they can be empowered to make choices to take back their health and make informed decisions for family planning.”

Durazo: “When I was in my mid-20s I organized garment workers to fight against sweatshop wages. I failed.

“As a state senator in my early 70s, I outlawed those wages. I’m proud that I never gave up, never quit and never forgot the promise I made to those women.

“I’ve been arrested 13 times fighting for workers, women and immigrants.”