In the heart of Black Los Angeles, the future of Latino political power is emerging.

“We cannot be divided,” Wilson said. “This is not the Olympics of oppression. We were both oppressed.”

District Assembly Deputy Reggie Jones-Sawyerwho’s black represented South Los Angeles for 12 years and expires in December. He said he has heard occasional talk about the need to put a Latino representative in his seat, but it has not been pursued aggressively because he has a long history of supporting Latino issues, such as bills providing overtime pay for farm workers and resources for undocumented immigrants. — that was even better than some Latin American legislators.

“My voice was very important to the Latin American Caucus,” he said. “I think that saved me in 10-plus years of trying to get re-elected.”

He really had to fight for his political survival in 2020 when Martinez upset him in the first two primaries. Jones-Sawyer said he convened a focus group with Latino voters in the district who were more concerned about accessing government services and putting food on the table amid the coronavirus pandemic than the post-George Floyd civil rights protests that have dominated political discourse in the United States . time.

“It was like being struck by lightning,” he said. “Everything we thought was right was wrong.”

Jones-Sawyer said he refocused his campaign on food distribution and other direct services, which helped him fend off Martinez in their disgusting election campaign.

“That’s what captivated people. Not racial politics,” he said. “I hope we don’t start a war. Because if Latinos and African Americans fight each other for resources in a poor region, we will both lose.”

Does a multiracial message still resonate with voters?

It was the racist tape scandal, which suggested just such a battle had reached a fever pitch in city politics, that prompted Elkhawary’s candidacy for the Assembly.

Elhawari, a longtime Community Coalition youth organizer who worked on Bass’ mayoral campaign at the time, said she felt compelled to speak out both “as a Black person who knows this is wrong” and “as someone who understands that Latinos are also needed to somehow unite our community.” Her experience commenting on a city council meeting on behalf of the Black Young Democrats of Los Angeles inspired her to act differently, and a few months later she decided to run for office.

Her campaign emphasized her biracial identity so much in part because Elhawary said it was important to help voters understand her focus on solidarity and social justice. She believes she could play a unique role in the Legislature by providing a Latino voice to help build support on Black issues such as reparations and vice versa.

“People see every day that we are underinvested, underserved and just have less resources in this particular community,” she said. “And I think that’s why people know we’re in this together.”

But her past is also something Elkhawary says she has always had to justify, including to the voters whose support she now seeks.

In the March primary, Martinez ran an ad calling Elkhawary “shady” for using her middle name Sade instead of Zeinab; allies publicly criticized this message is about an attempt to “smear” Elhawary in order to scare off Latino voters. Another candidate, reparations advocate Tara Perry, campaigned as the “only African American” in the race, implying that Elhawary was not black because she was not a descendant of slaves.

“Especially if you can’t be connected online, you vote based on what’s familiar to you,” Elkhawary said. “For someone like my uncle who grew up not far from here, he says, ‘Well, I’m dropping names.’ Like those who sound like they are Latino, I vote for them because it feels good.”

It’s unclear exactly what will sway voters in what is likely to be a close race. In the top two primaries, Martinez, whose campaign emphasized public safety, received nearly 33% of the vote, and Elhawary, who ran as an unabashed progressive, received about 31%, while three other candidates split the rest.

Martinez did not respond to repeated interview requests from CalMatters.

In conversations with voters, housing becomes a top issue. But in recent weeks the campaign has also been flooded millions of dollars of external expenses — from unions, trial lawyers and Uber for Elkhawary, from oil companies, law enforcement groups and dialysis clinic operator DaVita for Martinez. Much of the funding goes to finance attack ads, which hit Elhavari because he didn’t grow up in the area and Martinez because of his connection to abusive campaign staffer.