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City of South El Monte · Statewide General Election

South El Monte 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 seats up this cycle on South El Monte's City Council, elected at-large to a 4-year term: the city budget, zoning and land-use rules, and municipal ordinances for one of the San Gabriel Valley's smallest cities, home to about 20,000 residents. The council selects one of its own members to serve as Mayor and one as Mayor Pro Tem each year; day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager. The city has no police department of its own -- it contracts with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Temple City station for public safety.

South El Monte elects two City Council seats on November 3, 2026, and for once it's a contested race: three candidates for two seats. Incumbents Rudy Bojorquez and Manuel "Manny" Acosta are both seeking reelection, while first-time candidate Kimberly Valencia -- endorsed by Mayor Gloria Olmos -- is challenging for one of the two seats.

Each winner serves a 4-year term on South El Monte's City Council, which sets the budget, zoning and development rules, and municipal ordinances for one of the San Gabriel Valley's smallest cities, home to about 20,000 residents. The council selects one of its own members to serve as Mayor and one as Mayor Pro Tem each year -- Gloria Olmos and Rudy Bojorquez currently hold those roles -- and day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager. The city has no police department of its own; it contracts with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Temple City station for public safety.

Both incumbents already sit on the council; Valencia does not. In a published interview, Mayor Olmos described the sitting council as split by a "three-vote majority" she called more development- and business-oriented, and said she is backing Valencia and Acosta together to shift that balance -- while Valencia, in the same interview, described Bojorquez as the best-funded of the three. Framed that way, the choice is less about the two incumbents against each other than about how much a voter wants to shift the council's direction on development pace, cannabis-ordinance buffer zones, and a public safety division Valencia says the council majority eliminated.

Rudy Bojorquez

Rudy Bojorquez is a sitting South El Monte councilmember, currently serving as Mayor Pro Tem, seeking another term on the council he has held a campaign committee for since 2020. His ballot designation reads simply "Councilmember." No campaign platform statement for this cycle was reachable, and his 2026 committee has not filed a state campaign-finance disclosure as of this dataset's retrieval.

Strengths

Sitting councilmember and Mayor Pro Tem, with a campaign committee on file for every cycle since 2020 -- the deepest institutional continuity of the three.

Trade-offs

No campaign platform statement for this cycle was reachable, and his 2026 committee has not filed a disclosure report, so there's little beyond his record to weigh.

Keep in mind

Valencia, his declared opponent, said in a published interview he has drawn "significant funding from cannabis investors" and is mailing booklet-sized pieces -- a claim this dataset could not verify against his filings, which show none this cycle.

Manuel "Manny" Acosta

Manuel "Manny" Acosta is a sitting South El Monte councilmember seeking reelection, with a campaign committee on file for the seat since 2017. His ballot designation reads "Professor/Incumbent Councilmember." Mayor Gloria Olmos, a fellow councilmember, has publicly endorsed his reelection alongside challenger Kimberly Valencia's campaign.

Strengths

Sitting councilmember with a committee on file since 2017 -- longer than Bojorquez's -- and the only incumbent Mayor Olmos has endorsed for reelection.

Trade-offs

No campaign platform statement for this cycle was reachable, and his 2026 committee has not filed a disclosure report -- the same pattern as both other candidates.

Keep in mind

His ballot designation, "Professor/Incumbent Councilmember," is his own chosen wording; no source reachable this pass named an institution or subject for the "Professor" title.

Kimberly Valencia

Kimberly Valencia is a first-time candidate and lifelong South El Monte resident whose ballot designation, "Continuing Education Manager," reflects her work at UCLA's Integrated Substance Abuse Programs. She is running on restoring the city's disbanded public safety division, more cautious review of new development, and tighter buffer zones around the city's cannabis ordinance. She has been endorsed by Mayor Gloria Olmos, the East San Gabriel Valley Democratic Club, and the National Latino Peace Officers Association.

Strengths

The only newcomer in the race, endorsed by Mayor Olmos, the East San Gabriel Valley Democratic Club, and the National Latino Peace Officers Association.

Trade-offs

No council record to evaluate, and no reachable campaign-finance filing for her 2026 committee -- the same pattern as both incumbents in this race.

Keep in mind

In a published interview she said the sitting council majority disbanded the city's public safety division and loosened the 2020 cannabis ordinance's buffer zones -- her own characterization, not independently confirmed here against the underlying votes.

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

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • cityofsouthelmonte.org (opens in a new tab)City of South El Monte — Notice of Election, November 3, 2026 (City Clerk Adrian Garcia, MMC; dated June 29, 2026): for two (2) Members of the City Council, full term of four years; nomination period July 13 – Aug. 7, 2026, extendable to Aug. 12 for non-incumbent challenger candidates against an unfiled incumbent (not applicable here — both incumbents filed)
  • cityofsouthelmonte.org (opens in a new tab)City of South El Monte — List of Candidates, November 3, 2026 General Election: names the three qualified City Council candidates — Rudy Bojorquez ("Councilmember"), Manuel "Manny" Acosta ("Professor/Incumbent Councilmember"), Kimberly Valencia ("Continuing Education Manager") — with ballot designation and papers-pulled/qualified dates for each (all pulled papers July 13, 2026; Bojorquez qualified July 16, Acosta and Valencia Aug. 6)
  • cityofsouthelmonte.org (opens in a new tab)City of South El Monte — Resolution No. 26-038 (requesting the LA County Board of Supervisors consolidate the Nov. 3, 2026 general municipal election): its roll call, surfaced via a search engine's indexed excerpt of the city's own document, reads "Acosta, Rodriguez, Mayor Pro Tem Bojorquez and Mayor Olmos" — confirming Bojorquez's Mayor Pro Tem title and Bojorquez's and Acosta's current council seats. The PDF itself returned no extractable text layer on direct retrieval this pass — a reachability gap in the city's own file, not a selective omission here — so this rests on the search engine's cached excerpt, not a full read of the document
  • localnewspasadena.com (opens in a new tab)Local News Pasadena — "A First-Time Candidate Takes Aim at South El Monte Council Seat" (Sheryl Turner, April 27, 2026): a joint interview with candidate Kimberly Valencia and Mayor Gloria Olmos covering the council's elimination of the city's public safety division, a proposed arts district, the 2020 cannabis ordinance's (Measure CM) buffer-zone reduction, Valencia's biography and endorsements, and her characterization of opponent Rudy Bojorquez as backed by "significant funding from cannabis investors"
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State — CAL-ACCESS campaign-finance filer search, checked by candidate name 2026-08-31: Rudy Bojorquez's committee (Filer 1448856, dating to a 2020 committee, renamed for 2022 and 2026) is ACTIVE with no Form 460/461/450 e-filed for the 2025-2026 cycle and no late/$5,000+ contributions on record; Manuel Acosta's committee (Filer 1480867, "Acosta for South El Monte Council 2026; Manny," dating to a 2017 committee) is ACTIVE with the same absence; Kimberly Valencia's committee (Filer 1484572, "Valencia for South El Monte Council 2026; Kimberly 'Kim'") is ACTIVE, newly registered this cycle, with the same absence

Last updated August 31, 2026.