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City of Monrovia · Statewide General Election

Monrovia City Council

Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

This person holds one of two at-large seats up this cycle on Monrovia's 5-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use. A 4-year term.

Three candidates are running for Monrovia's two at-large City Council seats: incumbents Tamala P. Kelly and Larry J. Spicer against challenger Jesus Rojas, an El Monte police corporal making his second run at a council seat. Vote for up to two — no primary.

Council seats carry 4-year terms. Winners join the mayor as five votes on city ordinances, the budget, and land use, with day-to-day operations run by an appointed city manager rather than any single elected official.

Kelly, elected in 2022, and Spicer, in his fourth term since 2013, are running together as the sitting council's incumbents and are not opposing each other. Rojas is the only challenger, so the practical choice in a two-seat field of three is whether his policing background should replace one of the incumbents rather than which incumbent to keep.

Tamala P. Kelly

The incumbent, elected to the council in 2022 and Mayor Pro Tem from 2024 to 2026 — the first African American woman elected to the Monrovia City Council. She names public safety, affordable housing, preserving Monrovia's character, and fiscal responsibility and transparency as her priorities (per the city's official bio). She is also an associate college professor and CEO of Empower 2 Purpose, Inc., a nonprofit she and her husband founded.

Strengths

A first term that already includes the Mayor Pro Tem post, plus outside roles with the Cal Cities African American Caucus and the Immigration Resource Center of San Gabriel Valley.

Trade-offs

One term in office is a shorter record than running mate Spicer's to weigh her stated priorities against.

Keep in mind

She and Spicer are running together, not against each other; the real choice in this field is whether Rojas' policing background should replace one of them.

Larry J. Spicer

The incumbent, elected to the council in 2013 and now in his fourth term, having served three stints as Mayor Pro Tem. He names public safety, homelessness, transportation, senior programs and affordable housing as his priorities (per the city's official bio). A U.S. Army veteran and lifelong Monrovian, he served one term on the Planning Commission before his council election.

Strengths

The longest council tenure in this field, since 2013 with three terms as Mayor Pro Tem, plus regional-board seats spanning transit, workforce development and county sanitation.

Trade-offs

13 years in office is a long incumbency to weigh against a voter's appetite for a fresh council voice.

Keep in mind

He and Kelly are running together, not against each other; the real choice in this field is whether Rojas' policing background should replace one of them.

Jesus Rojas

A challenger and Corporal with the El Monte Police Department, where he has served about 20 years; he holds no city office and finished out of the running in a March 2024 Monrovia council race (per Ballotpedia). At a 2024 candidates forum he described a public-safety platform: an armored vehicle for Monrovia PD, more license-plate reading cameras, and more police presence on school campuses and Metro trains (per Monrovia Now). In 2025 the Peace Officers Association of LA County gave him its Centurion Award for community policing, for programs including a Citizens Academy and National Night Out events (per the Mid Valley News).

Strengths

A 20-year policing career built on community-based programs, capped by a 2025 countywide award for that work.

Trade-offs

No elected or appointed government experience, and an unsuccessful council bid in his only prior run, in March 2024.

Keep in mind

His platform is the most specific of the three on public-safety hardware; whether that translates to the rest of the job — budget, land use, general council work — is untested.

Source review: Strong (87/100) · 6 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context.

Last updated August 31, 2026.