Kevin de León
Official portrait, circa 2014
Member of theLos Angeles City Council from the14th district
In office October 15, 2020 – December 9, 2024
Preceded by	José Huizar
Succeeded by	Ysabel Jurado
50thPresident pro tempore of the California State Senate
In office October 15, 2014 – March 21, 2018
Preceded by	Darrell Steinberg
Succeeded by	Toni Atkins
Member of theCalifornia State Senate
In office December 6, 2010 – November 30, 2018
Preceded by	Gil Cedillo
Succeeded by	Maria Elena Durazo
Constituency	22nd district (2010–2014) 24th district (2014–2018)
Member of theCalifornia State Assembly from the45th district
In office December 4, 2006 – November 30, 2010
Preceded by	Jackie Goldberg
Succeeded by	Gil Cedillo
Personal details
Born	Kevin Alexander Leon (1966-12-10)December 10, 1966 (age 58) Los Angeles,California, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Education	Pitzer College (BA)
Website	Campaign website

Kevin Alexander Leon (born December 10, 1966), known professionally asKevin de León and colloquially asKDL,^[1] is an American politician who served as theLos Angeles City Council member forDistrict 14 from 2020 until 2024.^[2] A member of theDemocratic Party, he ran and was defeated in the2018 United States Senate election in California against incumbent SenatorDianne Feinstein and came in third place with 7.79% of the vote in the2022 Los Angeles mayoral election.

From 2006 to 2010, de León represented the45th district in theCalifornia State Assembly. He represented the22nd state senate district from 2010 to 2014, and the24th state senate district from 2014 to 2018. He wasPresident pro tempore of the California State Senate from October 15, 2014 to March 21, 2018. He was elected to the city council in 2020, and defeated in2024 byYsabel Jurado.

Beginning in October 2022, there were widespread calls for his resignation afteran audio recording of him and other council members making racist and derogatory remarks was leaked. He was formally censured by theLos Angeles City Council in a unanimous 12–0 vote on October 26, 2022.^[3] In December 2022, De León gained further notoriety when he was videotaped in a physical conflict with an activist, in which de León "grabs [the activist] and throws him into a table."^[4]

Kevin Leon was born inLos Angeles, to Carmen Osorio and Andrés Leon. Both his parents were born inGuatemala with his father being of full or partialChinese descent. His mother moved from Guatemala toTijuana, Mexico in the 1960s. She moved toLos Angeles to work as a housekeeper. A single mother with two children, she met Leon's father who was largely absent. His mother married a man ofMexican descent, taking the name Carmen Osorio Núñez, and relocated toSan Diego.^[2] She divorced and raised him in theLogan Heights neighborhood in San Diego. He also spent part of his youth in Tijuana where his stepfather's family was located.^[2] He strongly identifies withMexican culture.^[2]

De León attended Perkins Elementary School, Albert Einstein Elementary School Roosevelt Middle School, andSan Diego High School.^[5] The first in his family to graduate from high school, he briefly attended theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara before dropping out. He later earned a bachelor's degree fromPitzer College in 2003.^[6] While attending UC Santa Barbara, he began going byKevin de León though he has never legally changed his name.^[2]

After dropping out of college, de León worked for One Stop Immigration Center, a nonprofit organization in Los Angeles that assistsundocumented immigrants.^[7] He later became a labor organizer for theCalifornia Teachers Association, and campaign manager forFabian Nuñez's campaign forCalifornia State Assembly in 2002.^[8] De León and Nuñez have been close political allies for most of their careers.^[9]

De León first ran for office in 2006 defeating Christine Chavez, the granddaughter of labor leaderCesar E. Chavez, to replace the outgoingJackie Goldberg as the California state assemblymember for the45th district, coveringHollywood and much ofNortheast Los Angeles.^[9]

In 2008, eyewitnesses on the floor of the state assembly observed de León casting a so-calledghost vote for assemblywomanMary Hayashi on an affordable housing bill, opposite the way she would have voted, when Hayashi was away from the assembly floor. De León said he had no memory of the incident but also said he did not deny it, either.^[10] De León was investigated by then-state assembly speakerKaren Bass, but did not face any punishment and the vote was later changed. As a result of the controversy, Bass changed assembly rules to enforce a ban on ghost voting.^[11]

In 2009, de León was defeated in a bid to becomespeaker of the California state assembly, after many assembly members found de León's ambitious nature grating, eroding his support, according to reports in theLos Angeles Times.^[8]

De León was elected to theCalifornia state senate in 2010 and becamestate senate president pro tempore in 2014.^[12] As a California state senator, De León has been generally regarded as aliberal and describes himself as a "proud progressive."^[13]

De León sponsored SB 100, which would have required the state of California to generate 50% renewable electricity by 2026 and 100% renewable electricity by 2045.^[14][15] In 2018, the bill passed both houses of theCalifornia state legislature and was signed into law by governorJerry Brown on September 10.^[16]

In late 2017, de León was criticized for playing a role in killing a bill that would have blocked the controversial Cadiz Water Project, a proposal to mine and transfer groundwater from protected desert habitat in EasternSan Bernardino county to parts ofOrange county.^[17] Opponents of the project blamed De León, then president pro tempore of the senate, and pointed out that the company behind the project had donated $5,000 to De León's political campaign. Fabian Nuñez, a close ally and donor to De León, also represented company as its lobbyist.^[18]

De León criticized the state'shigh-speed rail project, arguing that construction should have started in major cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, rather than the state'sCentral Valley.^[19]

De León is an advocate ofgun control.^[20] In 2014, he sponsored SB 808, which addressed the personal fabrication of firearms.^[21] The bill was subsequently vetoed by governor Jerry Brown.

In 2016, De León led the charge in the passage of a package of 11 bills intended to prevent gun violence. These included De León's SB 1235, which created a new framework for buying and selling ammunition designed to address the ambiguities of his earlier SB 53, and his SB 1407, requiring a serial number from theCalifornia Department of Justice before building or assembling a gun.^[22][23]

De León is a supporter of creating asingle-payer health care system. He promised to support senatorBernie Sanders's "Medicare for All" legislation if elected to the United States Senate.^[24] He supported SB 562, a proposed bill to create a single payer health care system in California, which stalled in 2017.^[25]

De León authored SB 548, legislation that would make significant investments in child care, with a focus on empowering women in the workforce. The state budget resulted with new funding for thousands of more slots for subsidized child care.^[26][27]

In 2014, de León co-authored Yes Means Yes, the first law in the nation regarding affirmative consent and sought both to improve how universities handle rape and sexual assault cases and to clarify the standards, requiring an "affirmative consent" and stating that consent can't be given if someone is asleep or incapacitated by drugs or alcohol. "Lack of protest or resistance does not mean consent," the law states, "nor does silence mean consent."^[28] In 2015, de León co-authored follow-up legislation that requires public high schools teaching health education classes to include sexual assault prevention and strategies on how to build healthy peer relationships in their curricula.^[29][30]

On October 15, 2017, de León announced his bid for theUnited States Senate, challenging incumbent U.S. SenatorDianne Feinstein in the2018 election.^[31] The following day asuper PAC created by California political strategists Dave Jacobson and Maclen Zilber was formed to support his candidacy.^[32] On June 5, de León came in second place in thenonpartisan blanket primary with 12% of the total vote, enough to advance to the November general election. Feinstein received 44%, while the third place candidate, James Bradley, received 8% of the total vote. Republican candidates collectively received 33% of the vote.^[33][34]

De León's 12% was the lowest ever recorded for a candidate who advanced to the general election since California instituted its nonpartisan blanket primary rules in 2016. In July, De León won the endorsement of theCalifornia Democratic Party at their executive board meeting inOakland.^[35] Despite the endorsement, however, De León's campaign faced fundraising struggles and low name recognition.^[36][37]

On November 6, 2018, Feinstein defeated De León 54.2% to 45.8%. The race had an undervote of around 1.3 million votes compared to the gubernatorial election, likely by Republican voters choosing not to cast a vote for either candidate.^[38]

In 2020, de León was a candidate for a March special election to theLos Angeles city council. The seat had previously been vacated byJosé Huizar, who was the subject of an investigation into possible corruption charges. In June 2020, Huizar was arrested and charged with several counts of bribery and corruption. De León was elected in the special election to succeed him, and assumed office on October 15, 2020.^[39]

After winning election, de León was paid $109,000 by theAIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) for consultancy work, as well as over $100,000 from an electrical workers' union for work as a strategic advisor^[40], as well as over $100,000 from the University of Southern California, between $10,001 and $100,000 from California Community Foundation, between $10,001 and $100,000 from Elemental Excelerator, between $10,0001 and $100,000 from New Venture Fund. His salary as council member was $220,000^[41].^[40] Once in the City Council, De León reportedly pressured one of his staffers, who had no experience investigating housing issues and who had tried to intimidate L.A. police officers, to stop investigating alleged building and health code violations at properties owned by AHF in De León's district.^[40] Internal communications revealed by theL.A. Times showed that De León told a staff member that angry messages are "coming from the top" of L.A.P.D. about the staff member's aggressive words aimed at L.A. police officers.^[40] An ethics experts expressed concerns about conflicts of interests by De Leon over another alleged instance of failing to disclose AHF's payment in a meeting before taking a City Council seat, but no concerns were raised about AHF's ethics.^[40]

In 2021, de León advocated against SB 9, which would allow for the construction of duplexes in lots that are zoned assingle-family home neighborhoods. The bill was intended to alleviate the severe housing shortage in California.^[42] That same year, de León sought to stall the construction of a rapid transit bus line through Eagle Rock,^[43] which prompted a critical editorial by the Los Angeles Times which characterized de León as a "spoiler."^[44]

In 2022, de León championed the "Clean Streets Now" plan, his plan to reduce illegal dumping throughout the city.^[45]

In October 2022, an audio recording of a private 2021 meeting attended by de León, fellow Council memberGil Cedillo,Los Angeles County Federation of Labor PresidentRon Herrera, and Council presidentNury Martinez came to light in which Martinez made racist remarks about the adopted black son of their white City Council colleagueMike Bonin, comparing Bonin's treatment of his son to the way one handles a handbag. They also used slurs against indigenousOaxacan people who live inKoreatown, and discussed redistricting in order to break up black voting districts, turning them into Latino ones through the process ofgerrymandering. He apologized for taking part in the conversation, but refused to resign.^[46]

In the aftermath of the leaked racist recordings by de Leon and others, dozens of prominent politicians, including PresidentJoe Biden and Mike Bonin, called for the resignations of all involved.^[47] andSouthern California News Group opinion editor Sal Rodriguez.^[48] On October 19, 2022, in an interview with CBS Los Angeles, de León stated his refusal to resign, stating he needs to do the hard work to restore trust. However, he did not take responsibility so much for his own words as he did for his failure in having not put a stop to the conversation. He attempted to spin his racist joke comparing Bonin's son to a handbag as having been more of a joke about Martinez's penchant for luxury accessories.^[49] Bonin has stated that he was, "really disappointed, and sort of disgusted" by the answers de León gave in the interview. He went on to say that de León had simply left him a voicemail, which did not amount to an apology. Other than that, de León has not spoken to Bonin since the recording was leaked.^[50] On October 26, the City Council unanimously voted 12–0 to formally censure de Léon along with Cedillo and Martinez for their actions.^[3]

Recall paperwork was filed by five of de León's constituents on October 27, 2022, with leadership problems and the racist audio leak cited as major reasons for recalling de León.^[51] However, the recall campaign failed to acquire the required 20,437 signatures by the deadline—and as a result, no recall referendum was held.^[52] Nury Martinez had faced a brief recall effort led byAlex Gruenenfelder prior to her resignation,^[53] and Gil Cedillo was too late in his tenure to be recalled. Prior to the scandal, there had been three unsuccessful attempts to recall de León, on the grounds of his failure to tackle homelessness and adequately support law enforcement. All four of these efforts were coordinated by Eagle Rock resident Pauline Adkins.^[54]

In December 2022, de León was involved in an altercation with protestors at a community event.^[55] Video of the incident was subsequently released which showed that the physical altercation started when a community activist blocked de León while de León attempted to exit the building, and ending with de Leon's hands near the activist's neck as he pulled the activist down onto a table.^[56]

Running for reelection in 2024, Kevin de León came in second place in thetop-two primary, withYsabel Jurado, a tenants rights attorney andaffordable housing activist, coming in first.^[57] de Leon lost his re-election bid as Jurado defeated de Leon in the November general election with a margin of 57.17% to 42.83%.

De León lives in Los Angeles and has an adult daughter, Lluvia Carrasco. Carrasco's mother isSan Jose former councilmember Magdalena Carrasco.^[58] De León has never been married.^[59]

• Campaign websiteArchived July 13, 2011, at theWayback Machine
• Appearances onC-SPAN
• Join California Kevin De Leon
• Kevin de León atBallotpedia

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