My Story

Hello Temecula friends,

I’m Laurel LaMont, a longtime Trader Joe’s crew member, a single mom raising a son, founder of Upward Community, and I’m running to represent District 5 on the Temecula City Council.

I’m not a politician. I’m an advocate. And the real talk behind this announcement is that I’ve seen what campaigns can do to someone’s nervous system. But if we wait for someone else to change this, no one will. I’ve been told I need to play the game, but I believe the game is rigged, and I’m not entering this race to play anyone.

I don’t belong to a party machine. I belong to the working class. To parents. To mothers raising boys in a time when division is causing real harm and dangerous isolation.

I’ve spent nearly 18 years working shifts to pay the rent, moving every few years as prices rose or we were forced to leave. I’ve lived the fallout of a broken housing system. I’ve watched parents, especially single moms, bend themselves into impossible schedules just to survive. And for the past 7 years, I’ve shown up and spoken out.

Because housing shouldn’t feel like a lottery. Parents shouldn’t have to choose between working full-time and showing up for their kids. Community shouldn’t be a buzzword. It should be the hands and hearts of the people who live and work here, day in and day out.

On the council, I will fight for attainable homeownership and workforce stability so parents like me can stay in this city, watch their kids walk to neighborhood schools, and breathe easy in homes they helped build.

I will bring presence, not politics. I will stand with single moms, with working families, with boys who need mental health support, and with parents whose voices are too often ignored.

Today is Día de los Muertos, a day to honor those we’ve lost and the legacies we carry forward. The two most powerful and significant people in my life are my brother, who I lost, and my son, who I’m raising. This campaign is rooted in that love. My brother’s memory keeps me grounded. My son’s future keeps me moving.

This is about showing up—for each other, for our future, for our community.

I’m ready. Will you show up with me?