Pulido Celebrates Victory With Family, Supporters

ABC Unified School District board member was the top vote-getter in the March 8 Cerritos , according to the city's unofficial results.

Pulido leads the pack of candidates with 4,550 votes followed by incumbents Bruce Barrows and , current Cerritos mayor. With his victory, he will be the first Filipino American elected to the city council.

On Election night, Pulido's family and his supporters gathered for dinner at Goldilocks Bakeshop and Restaurant, waiting together as results from precincts were announced. When it became clear the longtime Cerritos resident was one of the three candidates elected, the crowd erupted in cheers, prompting him to thank his supporters and declared "victory, victory, victory."

"This election is about family and the family of Cerritos spoke very clearly that they wanted a positive message to city hall," Pulido said. "They wanted someone from this community to lead this community. I am so deeply honored and humbled to be that person."

Pulido thanked those who helped his campaign to build a "movement for us to build" and "instill a greater sense of community," including the many youth, senior, veteran, political and union groups that supported his election through volunteer work, phonebanking and contributions.

"These are the people whose fingerprints are all over the campaigns, whose footprints are all over the city," he said.

After thanking the many supporters and family members who were present and those who couldn't make the event, Pulido closed his remarks by acknowledging their efforts in helping him to victory and thanked God for helping him.

"Tonight, I am truly thankful to everyone's effort and it is a miracle of God," he said. "I can move on and serve greater because of God's love."

Before Pulido made his remarks, his wife Gloria said that he would be the community's advocate once sworn into the city council.

"It's never been about Mark," she said. "He will be the voice, the advocate of the people who can connect with them like a neighbor."

She said that the after three tries, it was time for Pulido to be part of the city council.

"It was our opportunity to get the vote and send a strong message that Mark deserves to win," she said. "He's in there for the long haul."

As the results started to trickle in, many of his supporters were convinced that a third time's a charm and that getting out the vote through canvassing mattered in this election.

"We were pulling behind him and all of us were out there door knocking and phone banking," said Rod Pulido, Mark's younger brother, who, along with many volunteers, helped get out the vote in the last few weeks of the election and on Election Day. "We saw what we could improve on [from the last city council election]. We focused on absentee ballots, our street team was in full force and volunteers were driving people to the polls."

Those who helped propel his campaign said that many diverse age groups helped get out the vote.

"This is an intergenerational approach because you've got high school students, college students, people Mark's age and elderly people supporting him," said Ronald Buenaventura, a friend of Pulido. "You don't see campaigns like that and I think it's paid off."

Many current and former elected officials who supported his campaign were also in attendance, including member , who is stepping down because of term limits. Lee said Pulido will work hard to improve Cerritos.

"He will do a fantastic job and work with all the city council members to make this city even better," she said.

ABC school board vice-president Armin Reyes, a colleague of Pulido, said that he will bring experience and consensus to Cerritos.

"It's great for the community to have a young, dedicated and talented person to join the city council," he said. "He's a consensus builder, he worked for Senator [Alan] Lowenthal and is well versed in state and local politics."