Image taken from Jose Huizar's Facebook page.

Molina presented tough competition in the beginnings of the race, but the competition calmed as Molina committed a series of gaffes, including revealing all of her endorsers’ identities before they were prepared for her to do so.

Huizar is currently far in the lead, with 63 percent of votes, and Molina trails with 25 percent.

His rise to leadership began in a village in Mexico, where he was born to a meatpacking worker and a migrant farm worker. Huizar immigrated to Boyle Heights when he was 3 years old. He went on to attend the University of California, Berkeley as an undergraduate, and received a Master’s degree in Public Affairs and Urban Planning from Princeton University, as well as a Juris Doctorate from UCLA School of Law.

Huizar became the first Latino to serve on the Princeton Board of Trustees in 2004.

He raised significantly more money than Molina—$866,334 to Molina’s $225,456—but what some viewed as his easy ride to reelection was tested during his last term when Huizar was embroiled in a sex scandal, due to an extramarital affair with his aide, Francine Godoy.

Although Huizar claimed the relationship was consensual, Godoy filed a civil suit for sexual harassment, saying he retaliated against her in the workplace after she refused sexual favors. Specifically, she said he told her he would not endorse her in her campaign for a seat on the Los Angeles Community College Board unless she had sex with him.

The case was settled privately in October, but according to media reports, taxpayer money covered his legal fees: the city voted to authorize up to $200,000 in payments to Huizar’s law firm.

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