Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua says she's judged harder as a woman and a Latina

Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua says she gets criticized more than the mayors who came before her, and she believes it is because she is a woman and a Latina.

"I take the heat because I'm the mayor, I take the heat because I'm a woman, I take the heat because I'm the first Latina," Amezcua said in a sit-down with Juice Unlocked, posted Sept. 12.

What she said

Amezcua said that in the years since she took office, some organizations and residents have blamed the mayor whenever something goes wrong in the city. She said nobody did that to the previous mayor, or to the mayor before that, who she said was there 28 years.

She said that when she pushes back, people expect her to stay quiet and do as she is told. She also said men in local politics do not face comments about their looks, asking whether anyone talked about County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento's weight. "Did they talk about Miguel Pulido wearing an orange tie for 28 years at every council meeting? No. But they talk about my hair, my makeup."

Much of that criticism, she said, comes from anonymous "keyboard warriors" with fake accounts who do not show up when she invites them to her Coffee with the Mayor events. "You don't have to like me, and not everybody does like me," she said, adding that she wants people to challenge her because it makes her a better leader.

“I take the heat because I'm the mayor, I take the heat because I'm a woman, I take the heat because I'm the first Latina.”

On ICE

In the same clip, Amezcua said she does not support ICE and will help families however she can. "If I had the power and the authority to say get out of my city, you're damn right I would," she said.

The issue has shadowed her time in office. In June 2025, Santa Ana police fired bean bags and rubber bullets and threw tear gas at protesters after federal agents asked for help, and Amezcua faced calls to resign after calling the protests "pure violence" on social media, Voice of OC reported.

“Did they talk about Miguel Pulido wearing an orange tie for 28 years at every council meeting? No. But they talk about my hair, my makeup.”

Background

Voice of OC describes Amezcua as the first woman elected mayor of Santa Ana. She was first elected in 2022 and won reelection in 2024 with nearly 60% of the vote, about 15,000 votes ahead of Councilman Ben Vazquez.

Santa Ana is OC's county seat, with about 310,000 residents in the 2020 census, 76.7% of whom identified as Hispanic or Latino. Pulido was the city's first mayor of Latino descent and its first mayor directly elected by voters, after a 1988 charter change.

“If I had the power and the authority to say get out of my city, you're damn right I would.”

Where things stand now

Amezcua is fighting to keep her seat. She led by roughly 13 points on election night, Nov. 3, but as of Saturday's count first-time candidate Dan Shimell, an attorney backed by progressive groups, had about 45% of the vote to her 42%, a lead of 1,823 votes, Voice of OC reported. City Commissioner Dwayne Shipp had about 13% of the roughly 58,200 votes counted.

The Santa Ana police union spent more than $110,000 supporting Amezcua's campaign, according to Voice of OC. Shimell has said Santa Ana has never voted out an incumbent mayor since the office became directly elected. Amezcua declined to comment to Voice of OC on the race.

“I want people to disagree, I want people to challenge me, because it makes me a better person.”

What’s next

The Orange County Registrar of Voters is still processing ballots from the Nov. 3 election and posts updated estimates of what is left to count at ocvote.gov. The Amezcua-Shimell margin could still shift as counting continues.

Watch the full interview

▶ Interviews1:14:03

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