Elizalde leads Preciado in Pomona Council race

Jacky Elizalde leads Victor Preciado in the Pomona City Council District 2 race as vote counting continues after Tuesday's General Election. The Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters posted results Wednesday morning showing Elizalde with nearly 54 percent of the vote. Preciado, the incumbent, holds just over 46 percent of the total. This was the only council election on the November ballot.

The district moved to a head-to-head contest because no candidate secured a majority in the June primary. The top two finishers subsequently campaigned on local issues, specifically housing density and government transparency. Both candidates addressed these topics in a questionnaire distributed by the Southern California News Group.

Elizalde, a nonprofit director, argued that the city requires additional housing stock but must preserve historic neighborhoods. She said the goal is to create opportunities for homeownership, affordable housing, and townhomes that meet diverse family needs. "That means preserving historic neighborhoods while creating more opportunities for homeownership, affordable housing, townhomes, apartments, and other options that meet the needs of different families," Elizalde wrote.

She also focused on making city spending more understandable to the public. Elizalde stated that government exists to serve the people and that officials should shift their mindset. "Most importantly, we need to change the culture at City Hall," she said. "Government exists to serve the people. We should stop being a city that starts with why something cannot be done and become one that asks how we can get it done."

Preciado, first elected in 2018, agreed that Pomona needs more housing without sacrificing its character. He emphasized building responsibly and offering residents various housing choices. "The key is to build thoughtfully and responsibly, while giving residents more housing choices," Preciado wrote. He noted that during his eight years on the council, he supported increasing supply including affordable units, workforce housing, apartments, accessory dwelling units, condos, and starter homes.

On transparency, Preciado defined the goal as making government accessible and providing meaningful participation opportunities. He proposed offering meetings at different times, including mornings, evenings, and weekends. Preciado also cited an increase in translation services to ensure language does not serve as a barrier to local government participation. The final margin between the two candidates remained close as of the Wednesday morning data release.