Nury Martinez Resigns From LA City Council After Racist Rant Audio Leak

By Madison Hirneisen | The Center Square, The Center Square California

Oct 12, 2022

(The Center Square) – Former Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez fully resigned from the council on Wednesday, four days after a leaked audio recording exposed racist remarks she made during a conversation in October 2021.

“It is with a broken heart that I resign my seat for Council District 6, the community I grew up in and my home,” Martinez wrote in a lengthy statement Wednesday.

The resignation comes days after a leaked audio recording revealed Martinez, Councilmembers Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera engaged in a conversation with racist remarks in October 2021. Martinez could be heard on the audio making racist remarks about another councilmember’s Black son, offensive comments about Jews and Armenians, and racist comments about Oaxacans.

The audio leak, first obtained by the Los Angeles Times, sparked outrage across the state, leading several elected officials to call for Martinez, de León and Cedillo to resign. Herrera resigned from his post on Monday, but de León and Cedillo had not resigned as of Wednesday afternoon.

Gov. Gavin Newsom called Martinez’s resignation the “right move” in a statement on Wednesday, saying “these comments have no place in our state, or in our politics, and we must all model better behavior to live the values that so many of us fight every day to protect.”

Newsom stopped short of calling for resignations from the three councilmembers earlier in the week and did not call for the resignation of de León and Cedillo in his statement on Wednesday.

Attorney General Rob Bonta also stopped short of calling for resignations when he announced an investigation into Los Angeles’ redistricting process on Wednesday. The attorney general condemned the remarks, calling them “offensive” and “deeply painful.”

Protesters filled the city council chambers on Tuesday and Wednesday, demanding resignations and expressing rage over the comments exposed in the audio leak.

The three councilmembers involved have faced pressure to resign in recent days, with state lawmakers and other elected officials calling for them to step down. President Joe Biden’s office announced Tuesday that he agreed the councilmembers should resign.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez issued a statement Wednesday thanking Martinez for the “difficult, but right choice to resign.”

“I ask my colleagues Mr. Cedillo and Mr. de León to follow that lead so our city may begin the process of healing,” Rodriguez said.

Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell, the acting council president, issued a statement Wednesday repeating his call for de León and Cedillo to resign, writing “there is no other way forward.”

“For Los Angeles to heal, and for its City Council to govern, there must be accountability,” O’Farrell said. “The resignation of Councilmember Nury Martinez is the first, necessary step in that process.”

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