# Montebello City Council, District 3 Compare records and positions simply between Elva "Sammy" Osorio, Marie Ledezma, or Ana Torres for Montebello City Council, District 3 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat on Montebello's 5-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, land use, and the budget. - Jurisdiction: City of Montebello - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/montebello-council-3 - 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: 92 out of 100 (Very strong), across 5 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Elva "Sammy" Osorio** — Nonprofit Technical Consultant - **Marie Ledezma** — Paralegal/Business Owner - **Ana Torres** — Montebello Business Owner A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. District 3 has no incumbent on the ballot. Councilmember and former Mayor Salvador Melendez did not file for re-election. His term ends in December. Three candidates are competing for the open seat. They are paralegal and small-business owner Marie Ledezma, nonprofit technical consultant Elva "Sammy" Osorio, and business owner Ana Torres. 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. They say they have spent more than ten years attending Montebello City Council meetings and advocating on city issues. They say they will push for transparency. They want to cut red tape for businesses. They would also invest in infrastructure and green space. Ledezma ran for this same District 3 seat in 2022 and did not win it. **Strengths:** More than a decade of visible civic involvement. Ledezma regularly attends council meetings and advocates on city issues. This is a second run for this seat. They also ran for District 3 in 2022. **Trade-offs:** That advocacy record is outside city government. They have never held office. Their platform names general priorities like transparency and cutting red tape, with no detailed proposals. **Keep in mind:** Ledezma filed a late-contribution report on August 24, 2026. It disclosed $1,500 from the Montebello Mid Management Association, a city employee group. That is the only outside contribution disclosed for any candidate in this contest so far. ## Elva "Sammy" Osorio Elva "Sammy" Osorio is a nonprofit technical consultant and small-business owner on Whittier Boulevard. They say they will focus on street repairs, traffic signals, emergency response times, and auditing city spending. Osorio has not previously held elected office in Montebello. **Strengths:** A Whittier Boulevard storefront gives Osorio a stake in the corridor they say they will fix. Their platform names concrete items. They include traffic signals, Dial-a-Ride, and a spending audit. **Trade-offs:** No past civic or elected record in Montebello beyond their own campaign statement. No independent reporting yet describes their candidacy. **Keep in mind:** Their statement says they will "audit city spending" using their technical background. It 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. They say they will focus on public safety, local businesses, and youth and senior services. Torres has not previously held elected office in Montebello. **Strengths:** Fourteen years working inside a large public institution, LACCD, before running their own business. That gives Torres both public-sector and small-business experience to draw on. **Trade-offs:** No past civic or elected record in Montebello beyond their own campaign statement. No independent reporting yet describes their candidacy. **Keep in mind:** Torres's statement lists public safety, business support, and youth and senior services as priorities. It gives no more specific policy detail. ## Sources 1. [City of Montebello — Certified List of Qualified Candidates, November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election (certified 2026-08-13)](https://www.montebelloca.gov/UserFiles/Servers/Server_58672/File/Departments/Administration/City%20Clerk's%20Office/Elections/2026/November%203,%202026%20-%20Certified%20List%20of%20Qualified%20Candidates..pdf) 2. [City of Montebello — Candidate statements filed for the November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election](https://www.montebelloca.gov/departments/administration/city_clerks_office/elections_voting_information/2026_general_election) 3. [City of Montebello — Elected Officials (current councilmembers, districts, and terms) and Mayors of Montebello](https://www.montebelloca.gov/government/elected_officials) 4. [Wave Publications — Thirteen Southeast cities to conduct council elections (November 2022 candidate rosters, including Montebello)](https://wavepublication.com/thirteen-southeast-cities-to-conduct-council-elections/) 5. [City of Montebello — Public campaign-finance disclosure portal (NetFile)](https://netfile.com/public/BELLO/campaign) ## The rest of the ballot Montebello City Council, District 3 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, "Montebello City Council, District 3 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/montebello-council-3 (sources last retrieved August 31, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.