Curren Price is Voters Choice to Lead the ‘New Ninth’ District State Senator is the African American to continue legacy
March 07, 2013
By Kenneth Miller
LAWT Staff Writer
An African American has historically represented Los Angeles City Council’s Ninth District from Gil Lindsay to Jan Perry, but to continue that legacy voters will have to get behind Curren Price in the May runoff against Latino opponent Ana Cubas.
Born in Los Angeles, Price was first Black student body president in the history of Morningside High School in 1967, he is without question the most accomplished in the field of candidates for the race.
In the lowest voting sector in Los Angeles, a field of seven candidates was narrowed to Price and Cubas who advance to the May 21 runoff for the Ninth District City Council seat.
The recently redrawn district includes the L.A. Live campus.
Price won 27.22 percent of the vote in the March 5th primary election and Cubas, who spent three years as chief of staff to 14th District City Councilman José Huizar, came in second with 23.96%.
Finishing a distant third was Mike Davis, a former state assemblyman, who received 15.69% of the ballots.
According to the City Clerk’s office, just 9,605 votes were cast in the Ninth District. The community that rolls down the Figueroa Corridor and encompasses a large 
portion of South Los Angeles recorded the lowest turnout of the eight council races.
Decorated State Senator and highly respected African American public servant, Price separated himself as the leading Black candidate in the field for Ninth District City Council.
Price campaigned on his solid record of achievement on one of the most pressing issues facing Los Angeles: access to quality, affordable healthcare.
“Our Ninth District communities are uniting behind this campaign, because the people in our neighborhoods understand the urgency as it relates to matters of health and wellness — particularly for our children, young families and elderly,” said Price. “It will take proven leadership to make the kind of change we need in the 9th District, and expanding access to healthcare is central to improving the quality of life in South Los Angeles.”
However, having represented a portion of the Ninth District as a Senator for the 26th District since 2009, Price is more than qualified to address the needs and concerns of the constituency.
“I am very familiar with the opportunities and obstacles that exist in this district, almost one-third of which is in the 26th Senate District, which I now represent," he said.
Price is a lifetime credentialed adult and community college teacher, and has served as deputy to two Los Angeles City Councilmembers. He also has a stellar stint on the Inglewood City Council and is one of the
leading lawmakers in the California legislature since 2006 on his resume as well.
Price attended the prestigious Sanford University earning a BA in political science and then obtained his law degree from Santa Clara University.
For several years he was a consultant for the Small Business Administration, served on the Los Angeles County Commission on Insurance and Community Economic Development Committee and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's South Bay Governance Council.
During his tenure on the Inglewood City Council and in the legislature he has been a steadfast champion on economic development.
“I plan on encouraging more private sector investment, improving the infrastructure on roads, address the adequate housing and most importantly safety in the New 9th,” he explained.
The primary difference between him and the other candidates is that he has sustained the relationships with policy makers and in the private sector who can be instrumental in helping him achieve these goals.
Price is the overwhelming choice of unions and Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.
“I believe that Sen. Curren Price would be the most viable candidate in the 9th Council District race. He is someone who is respected and someone around whom the community can unite,” said City Council President Herb Wesson.
The Supervisor added; “I think the president of the City Council has given a lot of thought to the 9th District and I am prepared to follow his lead. I agree with the City Council president that Sen. Curren Price will be very hard to beat.”
Congresswoman Karen Bass, the majority of his colleagues in the legislature, Black and Latino clergy members, most of the weekly publications have all endorsed Curren Price for ‘’The New” Ninth District.