Nury Martinez

A 1996 graduate of California State University, Northridge,[2] Martinez was elected as a member of the Board of Education of the Los Angeles Unified School District, representing the LAUSD District 6 in 2009.

Martinez was elected in a special election on July 23, 2013, to succeed Tony Cárdenas,[3] who vacated his seat to become U.S. House Representative for California's 29th congressional district. Martinez was the only woman serving on the city council for nearly four years, and was the first Latina member in a quarter century.[4]

In 2015, Martinez championed a plan to create a Valley Bureau Human Trafficking Task Force, which among other things would target the criminal enterprise behind prostitution and the "johns" that supported this activity. One tactic that the LAPD was to employ as part of this effort, was to send "dear john" letters to people who travel areas frequented by prostitutes. Nury Martinez has been known to be an advocate against human trafficking. In 2019 councilwoman Nury Martinez advocated for Senate Bill 630.[5] Senate Bill 630 calls for certain businesses and entities post bills that state the human trafficking laws as well as funding a human trafficking hotline.[6] Councilwoman Nury Martinez has also been an advocate for the undocumented community in the San Fernando Valley. In January of 2020 Nury placed a ban on migrant centers within the Los Angeles city limits after a children's migrant center was proposed in Arleta. [7]

In 2015, Martinez's reelection campaign was accused of submitting fraudulent donor information in order to receive $65,360 in taxpayer-matched funds.[8] In 2019, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office ended its investigation into Martinez's 2015 campaign, citing insufficient evidence to pursue a fraud case.[9]