Skip to main content

City of Montebello · Statewide General Election

Montebello City Council, District 3

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 your district's seat on Montebello's 5-member City Council: city ordinances, land use, and the budget.

District 3 has no incumbent on the ballot: councilmember and former Mayor Salvador Melendez, whose term ends in December, did not file for re-election. Paralegal and small-business owner Marie Ledezma, nonprofit technical consultant Elva "Sammy" Osorio, and business owner Ana Torres are the three candidates competing for the open seat.

Whoever wins takes office in December for a four-year term on Montebello's five-member City Council, which sets city ordinances, decides land-use and development matters, and adopts the annual budget — work shared with the other four district representatives and the city staff who run day-to-day operations.

With no incumbent running, this is a choice among three first-time council candidates, each pointing to a different kind of hands-on community experience: years of civic advocacy, a Whittier Boulevard storefront, and public-sector and small-business work. None has held elected office before.

Marie Ledezma

Marie Ledezma is a senior paralegal and small-business owner who says she has spent more than ten years attending Montebello City Council meetings and advocating on city issues. She says she'll push for transparency, cut red tape for businesses, and invest in infrastructure and green space. She ran for this same District 3 seat in 2022 and did not win it.

Strengths

More than a decade of visible civic involvement — regularly attending council meetings and advocating on city issues — plus a second run for this seat, having also run for District 3 in 2022.

Trade-offs

That advocacy record is outside city government, not inside it: she has never held office, and her platform names general priorities — transparency, cutting red tape — without detailed proposals.

Keep in mind

She filed a late-contribution report on August 24, 2026 disclosing $1,500 from the Montebello Mid Management Association, a city employee group — the only outside contribution disclosed for any candidate in this contest as of this writing.

Elva "Sammy" Osorio

Elva "Sammy" Osorio is a nonprofit technical consultant and small-business owner on Whittier Boulevard. She says she'll focus on street repairs, traffic signals, emergency response times, and auditing city spending. She has not previously held elected office in Montebello.

Strengths

A Whittier Boulevard storefront gives her a specific, visible stake in the corridor she says she'll fix, and her platform names concrete items — traffic signals, Dial-a-Ride, a spending audit.

Trade-offs

No prior civic or elected record in Montebello beyond her own campaign statement, and no independent reporting yet describes her candidacy.

Keep in mind

Her statement says she'll "audit city spending" using her technical background but does not detail what that audit would cover or who would conduct it.

Ana Torres

Ana Torres is a Montebello business owner who spent 14 years working for the Los Angeles Community College District before opening the city's first organic juice bar. She says she'll focus on public safety, local businesses, and youth and senior services. She has not previously held elected office in Montebello.

Strengths

Fourteen years working inside a large public institution (LACCD) before running her own business gives her both public-sector and small-business experience to draw on.

Trade-offs

No prior civic or elected record in Montebello beyond her own campaign statement, and no independent reporting yet describes her candidacy.

Keep in mind

Her statement lists public safety, business support, and youth and senior services as priorities without more specific policy detail.

Source review: Very strong (92/100) · 5 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

Last updated August 31, 2026.