Johnathan Hernandez says he's running for Santa Ana mayor at backpack giveaway

Santa Ana Councilman Johnathan Hernandez said he was running for mayor, and he said it on a street corner during a community backpack giveaway. Asked whether he was thinking about a run, he answered: "I'm absolutely running for mayor."

The interviewer noted that Hernandez had just announced it on Juice Unlocked's stream. Juice Unlocked posted the clip on Aug. 8, 2026.

What Hernandez said

Hernandez made policing the center of his pitch. "The police are running the city. The people need to run this city," he said. "The police work for the people of Santa Ana. They're not the ones who run it."

He also took aim at Mayor Valerie Amezcua, calling her a former cop and probation officer and noting she had been mayor since 2022. LAist describes her as a former supervising probation officer with the Orange County Probation Department who was elected the city's first female mayor in 2022. Hernandez said she "has spent more time criminalizing the people in the community who are struggling than she is trying to help them find a different path."

Hernandez said he had heard the mayor say that whoever was giving away backpacks would get arrested. Juice Unlocked could not independently confirm that remark. "I want to make sure no families, nobody who's giving away backpacks is criminalized," he said. "These are people that are in need."

“I'm absolutely running for mayor.”

The giveaway

A joint Instagram post about the event said it "almost didn't happen." The post credited @ciscocutz_ and Juice Unlocked with bringing everyone together and @waxxbrandz with donating more than 300 backpacks and school supplies. It also thanked the city of Santa Ana for coming together for the community.

Hernandez said his office should have been involved. If he and the organizers had sat down in July, he said, they would have had more than a month to find the right location, pull the permits and identify the families most in need. "If I were the mayor, I would have said my office is going to partner with you, instead of having you fully absorb the cost for permits. We're going to share those costs," he said.

“The police are running the city. The people need to run this city.”

Background

Hernandez's comments came about a year after a tense stretch for Santa Ana's leadership. During protests over federal immigration raids on June 9, 2025, a Voice of OC photo showed him standing with protesters as Santa Ana police formed a line.

Amezcua faced calls to resign after a social media statement calling those protests "pure violence," Voice of OC reported. Hundreds of people attended the June 17, 2025, council meeting to voice frustration with her response, ABC7 reported. Heading into the 2026 election, the Santa Ana police union spent nearly $270,000 on mailers and ads supporting Amezcua and three council candidates as of Nov. 2, 2026, according to Voice of OC.

“She has spent more time criminalizing the people in the community who are struggling than she is trying to help them find a different path.”

Update

Hernandez was not on the Nov. 3, 2026, ballot for mayor. LAist's voter guide, Voice of OC and NBC Los Angeles all covered a three-way race between Amezcua, attorney Dan Shimell and city commissioner Dwayne Shipp. None of those outlets said why Hernandez did not run.

As of a Nov. 6 count, Amezcua led Shimell by about a quarter of a percentage point, roughly 43.4% to 43.15%, with Shipp at about 13%, Voice of OC reported. Shipp has conceded.

“If I were the mayor, I would have said my office is going to partner with you, instead of having you fully absorb the cost for permits. We're going to share those costs.”