# Cudahy City Council Compare records and positions simply between Richard Corvera-Hernandez, Cynthia Romo, Cynthia Gonzalez, and 2 more for Cudahy City Council at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds one of three at-large seats on Cudahy's City Council. These seats are up this cycle. The council has five members in all. Terms are four years and staggered. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. The council picks one of its own members to serve as Mayor. This title rotates rather than being separately elected. An appointed city manager runs day-to-day operations. - Jurisdiction: City of Cudahy - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Seats: 3 - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/cudahy-council - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: August 31, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 83 out of 100 (Strong), across 16 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Richard Corvera-Hernandez** - **Cynthia Romo** - **Cynthia Gonzalez** — Incumbent - **Jose R. Gonzalez** - **Martin U. Fuentes** — Incumbent A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Five candidates are running for three at-large seats on Cudahy's City Council. The incumbents are Cynthia Gonzalez and Martin U. Fuentes. The challengers are Richard Corvera-Hernandez, Jose R. Gonzalez and Cynthia Romo. Vote for up to three. There is no primary. Council seats carry 4-year terms, staggered so either two or three seats are up each cycle — this year it's three, including the seat of Councilmember Elizabeth Alcantar Loza, who did not file for another term. Winners join two sitting councilmembers not up this cycle, Daisy Lomelí and Amanda Gomez, to make five votes on city ordinances, the budget, and land use; the council then selects one of its own to serve as Mayor, and day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager. The field resolves an open question about its own size: a sixth Cudahy resident, Nathan Nuñez, pulled nomination papers but never filed them, leaving five qualified candidates for three seats, not six. The most consequential fact for this cycle is Mayor Cynthia Gonzalez's June 2025 social-media video, made while she was still Vice Mayor, naming local street gangs and urging them to organize against ICE raids — national news for weeks before she apologized and clarified her intent at a council meeting. Both incumbents are seeking another term against three challengers with no history in elected Cudahy office. ## Cynthia Gonzalez Cynthia Gonzalez, Ed.D. is the incumbent Mayor. Her fellow councilmembers gave her that title after she was first elected to the council in 2022. She's running for another 4-year council term. In June 2025, while serving as Vice Mayor, she posted a viral social-media video. It named local street gangs and asked them to organize against ICE immigration raids. The message drew national news coverage. It also drew a resignation call from the LA Police Protective League. A month later she clarified on camera that she meant peaceful organizing, not violence. **Strengths:** Sitting Mayor with a full council term served. She has a doctorate in educational leadership and a career overseeing LAUSD schools. She also has a new UCLA role training school principals. **Trade-offs:** A June 2025 video named street gangs and urged them to 'organize' against ICE. It drew an LA police union resignation call and national coverage. She apologized and clarified her intent. **Keep in mind:** Some outlets reported she was facing a federal investigation over the video. The FBI would not confirm or deny one to ABC7. She kept her Mayor title and is seeking reelection. ## Martin U. Fuentes Martin U. Fuentes is the incumbent councilmember. They have been a Cudahy resident for more than 40 years. They have also served a term as the city's rotating Mayor. They're running for another 4-year council term. Before joining the council they worked as a field deputy for U.S. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard. They were also an aide to state Senator Gloria Romero. They served as Political Director for SEIU Local 1877's 'Justice for Janitors' organizing campaigns. **Strengths:** Decades of Sacramento- and Washington-adjacent staff work. They worked for a member of Congress, a state senator, and a major labor union. They served a prior term as Cudahy's rotating Mayor. **Trade-offs:** Fuentes's own campaign announcement and city bio describe their record only in general terms. No independent source details specific votes, ordinances, or initiatives they authored on the council. **Keep in mind:** They have lived in Cudahy more than 40 years. That gives them more direct-community tenure than any other candidate in this field, incumbent or challenger. ## Richard Corvera-Hernandez Richard Corvera-Hernandez is a challenger who served on Cudahy's Planning Commission from January 2022 until April 2026. The councilmember who'd appointed them then removed them and named a replacement. They're running for a seat on the City Council. As a commissioner they publicly questioned city staff about the Cudahy 2040 General Plan. They asked whether its projected unit counts exceed the region's state-mandated housing targets. That is per the city's own meeting minutes. **Strengths:** Four years of hands-on Planning Commission experience. Corvera-Hernandez publicly pressed staff on whether the city's General Plan growth projections exceed state housing targets. **Trade-offs:** They were removed from that commission the same year they filed for council. City code let their appointing councilmember do it with no cause. It is not a documented finding against them. **Keep in mind:** No campaign statement, website, or news coverage was found for their council bid. Their qualification for the ballot on August 3, 2026 is the only independently confirmed fact of their candidacy. ## Jose R. Gonzalez Jose R. Gonzalez is a challenger and former Cudahy councilmember. Per the city's own social-media announcements, they were appointed rather than elected to their prior council seat. Their colleagues elevated them to serve as Mayor by December 2023. They continued in that role until their term ended in December 2024. They're running to return to the City Council. A professional-networking profile matching their name lists more than 20 years of K-12 education experience. They have run unsuccessfully for regional water-district board seats since leaving the Cudahy council. Those include the West Basin Municipal Water District in 2022. They also ran for the Central Basin Municipal Water District in 2024. **Strengths:** The only candidate in the field with direct experience as both a Cudahy councilmember and its Mayor. They also have 20-plus years of K-12 education experience. **Trade-offs:** They left the council when their appointed term ended in December 2024. They have since lost two regional water-board races. They lost both by wide margins, in 2022 and 2024. **Keep in mind:** They were appointed to their prior council seat rather than elected to it. So this campaign is their first attempt to win a Cudahy council seat directly at the ballot box. ## Cynthia Romo Cynthia Romo is a challenger who has lived in Cudahy for more than 40 years. They are raising their own family there. They're running for a seat on the City Council. They are campaigning alongside incumbent Mayor Cynthia Gonzalez under a joint 'Two Cynthias' banner. A LinkedIn profile matching their name and location lists their professional role. It gives their title as PACE Outreach & Marketing Regional Director at AltaMed Health Services. AltaMed is a large Los Angeles County community health nonprofit. **Strengths:** A 40-plus-year Cudahy resident with an explicit alliance with the sitting Mayor. That gives them a visible campaign presence despite no prior officeholding. **Trade-offs:** No campaign statement, website, or news coverage beyond Romo's own and allied social-media posts was found. No prior public-service record could be independently confirmed. **Keep in mind:** Their professional background is in community health outreach at AltaMed. That is not municipal government or land use. This holds if the LinkedIn match is accurate. ## Review notes - Martin Fuentes (Instagram, @martin4cudahy), Jose Gonzalez (Instagram, @josergonzalezsela), and Cynthia Romo (Instagram, @bruin2018) may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [City of Cudahy — City Elections (City Clerk's Office)](https://www.cityofcudahyca.gov/172/City-Elections) 2. [City of Cudahy — Notice of Election, November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election (three Council seats, 4-year terms)](https://www.cityofcudahyca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2597) 3. [City of Cudahy — List of Potential/Qualified Candidates, Member of City Council, November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election](https://www.cityofcudahyca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2610) 4. [City of Cudahy — Notice of Extension of Candidate Filing Period (extended to August 12, 2026; incumbent-eligible seat, non-incumbents only)](https://www.cityofcudahyca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2627) 5. [City of Cudahy — City Council (member roster and term-expiration dates)](https://www.cityofcudahyca.gov/173/City-Council) 6. [City of Cudahy — Mayor Cynthia Gonzalez, Ed.D (official biography)](https://www.cityofcudahyca.gov/196/Mayor-Cynthia-Gonzalez-EdD) 7. [City of Cudahy — Martin U. Fuentes (official biography)](https://www.cityofcudahyca.gov/192/Martin-U-Fuentes) 8. [City of Cudahy — April 21, 2026 City Council Regular Meeting Agenda (Item 14H: removal of Richard Corvera Hernandez from the Planning Commission at appointing councilmember's discretion, per Municipal Code 2.32.020)](https://www.cityofcudahyca.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04212026-505) 9. [ABC7 Los Angeles (KABC) — Cudahy Vice Mayor Cynthia Gonzalez allegedly calls on street gang members to stand up against immigration raids in SoCal](https://abc7.com/post/cudahy-vice-mayor-cynthia-gonzalez-allegedly-calls-on-gang-members-to-stand-up-against-immigration-raids-socal/16839597/) 10. [ABC7 Los Angeles (KABC) — Cudahy Vice Mayor Cynthia Gonzalez apologizes after appearing to call on gang members amid immigration raids](https://abc7.com/post/cudahy-vice-mayor-cynthia-gonzalez-apologizes-appearing-call-gang-members-amid-immigration-raids/17165571/) 11. [The Downey Patriot — Police union calls for Cudahy vice mayor to resign](https://www.thedowneypatriot.com/articles/police-union-calls-for-cudahy-vice-mayor-to-resign) 12. [Cynthia Romo (Instagram, @bruin2018) — 'Two Cynthias' joint campaign post with Mayor Cynthia Gonzalez](https://www.instagram.com/bruin2018/) 13. [Jose Gonzalez (Instagram, @josergonzalezsela) — Cudahy City Council candidacy announcement](https://www.instagram.com/josergonzalezsela/) 14. [Martin Fuentes (Instagram, @martin4cudahy) — Cudahy City Council candidacy announcement](https://www.instagram.com/martin4cudahy/) 15. [Web search (Google) surfacing a LinkedIn profile snippet matching 'Jose Gonzalez' — 20+ years of K-12 education experience; LinkedIn itself could not be opened directly](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22josergonzalezsela%22+OR+%22Jose+R.+Gonzalez%22+Cudahy+council+candidate) 16. [Web search (Google) surfacing a LinkedIn profile snippet matching 'Cynthia Romo' — PACE Outreach & Marketing Regional Director, AltaMed Health Services; LinkedIn itself could not be opened directly](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Cynthia+Romo%22+Cudahy+city+council) ## The rest of the ballot Cudahy City Council is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "Cudahy City Council — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/cudahy-council (sources last retrieved August 31, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. 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